New Heroes
by DarkBrightness
Summary: Twenty years after the evil has been vanquished from Hyrule, everything has always been peaceful. But things never stay that way, do they? Darkness rises from the desert in the form of Ganondorf's son, and the only ones who can stop him are the descendents of Link, Midna and Zelda. MidLink pairing and OCs, rated T for some violence.
1. Prologue: Only the beginning

Notes: First of all: this is a sequel to my other Twilight Princess story, Return of Zant, but you don't have to have read it to enjoy my newest story. There will be mention of what happened, but I will try to make sure none of it is vital to the story. The first two chapters are prologues; sorta just intros to the story. The first one is in Link's point of view, the second in Ganondorf's son's, but the rest of the story will focus on Midna and Link's two children and switch back and forth between their POVs.

The prompt for this story was given to me by TheBlueAlienRobotZombie. Thank you so much for the idea.

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess belongs to Nintendo, any OCs in the story belong to me. Yes, there are a lot of OCs.

All right then. On with the story!

* * *

Midna tilts her head back and lets the warm sunlight wash over her face, the slight breeze blowing her hair away from her face. Her eyes are closed, legs swinging in the air like a carefree child's, one hand on her slightly swelling stomach.

Link thinks he could watch her forever.

He's always thought that. And it's never changed. It has been six years since they killed Zant, six years filled with nothing but the occasional minor monster raid. Six years of peace. Zelda rules the land well as queen, and Midna and Link protect it. They always have. They always will.

"Alari," Midna says suddenly, opening her eyes. "Do you like it?"

"Selfless and righteous," he replies with a smile. "It's perfect."

She smiles back, eyes glowing, and leans against his shoulder. "Now you get to come up with the boy name."

"Huh," Link huffs and wraps his arm around her back. "I'm not a name person."

"You'll figure something out," Midna says, and plants a soft kiss on his lips. "I'm heading in for the night. See you in the morning, all right?" She slides off the fence and makes her way down the path, graceful as ever.

Link looks out at the grazing goats scattered around the field. Nearby, Epona shakes her mane and snorts, stamping her hooves to ward off flies.

It's times like this he can almost forget the worst and best year of his life, the blood and monsters and fairies and Zant and Ganondorf and Zelda. He both loathes the memories and savors them, wakes up smiling as often as he screams himself out of nightmares. As awful as saving the world was, he can never forget that if it hadn't happened, he would have never met Midna, and then he wouldn't be married with a baby on the way.

Link knows that his child will grow up to be a fighter, knows it the way he knows his own name. But with a fierce protective feeling in his chest, he also knows that they will never be forced to stab a monster through the heart and feel the warm, sticky green blood run down their arm at seventeen years old. Because he will keep Hyrule safe, he and Midna and Zelda and Rusl and all the others.

He will keep it safe, so that there will never need to be a hero like him again. So that no one else will have to chase after their best friend and instead face the agony of transforming into a beast, or plunge into fiery mines and shadow-covered deserts. His child, and Zelda's, and Illia's, will grow up in the peace their parents helped to create.

Nothing has ever gotten past Link.

And nothing ever will.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed :) it would be awesome if you left a review!


	2. Prologue: Revenge

Time/People's Ages/Confusing Things: _**(PLEASE READ OR THIS MAY BE**_ **_CONFUSING_**) This prologue takes place fifteen years after the first, which took place six years after the ending of Return of Zant (not much later than when the game ends). I hope that made sense. Midna, Link, Zelda, and Ilia are in their late 30's, Midna and Link's daughter is fifteen, their son is eleven, Zelda's son is sixteen, and Ganondorf's son is in his early 20's. The other more minor characters will be mentioned later.

Diclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda blah blah blah

* * *

The moon rises over the desert, wind howling through the windows and halls of the fortress. Outside, guards patrol the ramparts and stand watch by the gate, though there is really no point. The Gerudo's home is almost completely hidden from sight—made from the same sand as the desert and masked by the ever-present sandstorm, sometimes it is hard to see it even for those who know it is there.

Ebon stands stock-still by the window, glaring out at the star-dotted sky and the glowing moon. His people have been hidden for centuries, since his father's defeat by the Hero of Time. Some of them had been loyal to Nabooru and were praised and cherished by the people of Hyrule, but those still loyal to Ganondorf, even after he had been sealed away, had left, fled into the desert only they knew.

But this time, his father is really dead.

Not just defeated. Not just sealed away.

Dead.

Ebon doesn't even remember him.

That doesn't mean he did not try to. Sometimes he lay facedown on his bed for hours, eyes squeezed shut and door locked, and scoured his brain for anything—a flicker, a moment, an image, _something_. But there is nothing. He was barely one when the Hero—the one of _this_ time, not the same Link from two hundred years ago, but similar enough—killed his father.

The Gerudo treat him like poison—something you hold at arm's length but respect because you have to. Ebon is the son of their dead leader, the one they worshipped for so long, and the leadership of the tribe goes to him. They carry out his orders, but they do not really follow him. They care for him, but they do not care about him.

Still, the Gerudo are loyal. They always have been, to his father or Nabooru or Ebon himself. They can help him achieve what he really wants.

Vengeance.

"My lord!" a messenger sweeps into the room, dropping to her knees before him, red ponytail spilling around her head and brushing against the floor. "I have word from our spies in Hyrule Castle. May I have permission to speak?"

"Evaline," Ebon says, and sighs. "How many times have I told you not to bow to me? Call me Ebon. And raise your head."

"I am sorry, my—Ebon," she stammers. "It is not an easy thing to get used to."

He softens at her smooth dark skin and amber eyes. Evaline is the only one he trusts these days, and trust is invaluable. "What news do you have?"

"The plans are set perfectly. Everything is ready to be set in motion. All you must do is send out the order." She smiles at him a little shyly. "It is a flawless plot, Ebon."

He turns back to his window in a swirl of black and red cloth and stares out at the desert. His home. His people. His father's legacy. They all deserve better than this fortress hidden from the rest of the world.

Ebon gives a swift nod and whirls back around to face Evaline. "Good. Let us begin."


	3. hope is something free

Hellohellohello! Hope you liked the beginning of the story! This is a bit of a slow chapter, but I want to get the story set and introduce everything before totally launching into the plot. And you know what is SO great about setting it years after the game is over? I get to choose what characters are doing now, what the kids grew up to be, the state the world is in. And it's FUN. Anyway. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Alari inhales deeply, crisp winter air chilling her throat, and adjusts her stance slightly. Her hands tighten on the hilt of her sword. Her eyes dart around the pasture, the goats lifting their heads to watch her.

She launches herself forward in a flurry of long hair and breath clouds, and sweeps her sword up to meet her opponent's. The blades clang together with a ringing metallic sound, but she is too small and he is too strong. Alari quickly shifts her weight to her left leg and delivers a swift, hard kick just below his knee. His leg gives for a moment and the pressure against her sword lessens slightly, and she takes the opportunity to jump to the side and swings her sword down. It glances off his shield harmlessly and flies out of her grasp.

She drops into a roll in the direction of her sword, but it is too late and he is planted in front of it, making it impossibly out of reach. In one moment his sword stabs down—

—and stops inches from her throat.

Alari's father stands over her, a slight smile on his face. He sheathes his sword and offers her his callused hand. She takes it and lets him yank her up into a standing position.

"You almost won that time," Link says, turning to free her sword from the dirt.

"Almost," Alari huffs indignantly. "I wasn't good enough."

Link raises blond eyebrows and holds it out to her point down. "Almost winning against a trained swordsman more than twice your age—who also happens to be chosen by the gods—it's not an easy feat, little wolf."

She lets out a hot sigh and takes her sword back, wiping the dust off with a cloth until she can see her reflection in the metal, eyes as silver as the blade staring back. They are her main Twili feature, other than the soft gray skin that comes from her mother's family. But her hair, straight and blond as her father's, and her pointed stick-out ears and facial structure mark her as a Hylian. People in Castle Town don't even make an effort to disguise their stares, wide-eyed and wondering at her mixed features.

Alari swallows and slides the sword back into the scabbard at her waist. "All right," her father says. "I'd better get dinner started before your mother tries to cook stew again. Round up the goats, will you?"

She laughs, and it feels good. As talented as her mother is, there is one thing she can't do, and it's cook. While her father vaults over the fence and heads down towards the village, she rubs her horse's neck and climbs onto his back. Wing was Epona's first colt, and her father thought it only right that he was owned by his first child. His coat is darker bay than his mother's was, but he has the same white mane and socks. He runs like the wind and herds like Epona, and Alari thinks maybe she is in love with him.

They fly over the land together, Wing's powerful muscles churning and Alari's hair flying, and it even though she's done this a million times, it still feels so freeing it makes her laugh out loud. She lets out a yell and the stubborn goats baa in protest, but they scatter at Wing's pounding hooves and head into the barn. By the time she gets all of them into the stalls and shoves the heavy stable doors closed, the sky is streaked orange and yellow with the setting sun. Alari grabs Wing's reins and leads him down the path, shutting the ranch gate behind her.

As she walks past the houses scattered along the riverbank, a giggling green shape slams into her and wraps around her leg. A little girl in a green dress that matches her eyes stares up at her, showing off the gap where she lost her first tooth. Alari smiles and tugs on one of Lily's light brown pigtails. Ilia's daughter is six years old and sort of like Alari's cousin. She looks like a genetic copy of her mother—small, pointed nose, slender figure, green eyes and all. Ilia had shocked them all when she married Shad—her father, Alari's parents, Uli and Sera probably Shad himself, too. But is not hard to look at them and tell that they're happy, and that's enough.

"It's kind of hard to walk when you're attached to my leg, Lily," Alari says, and pries the little girl off her pant leg. Lily pouts, sticking out her lower lip, but brightens a moment later.

"Did you know, Alawi?" she can't pronounce her r's yet, but Shad says it will wear off eventually. "The mailman just came to Pergie and Jaggle's house! Uncle Talo and Aunt Luda are coming to visit!"

"Really?" Alari has not seen the oldest of the children her father watched over in almost a year. Talo and Malo had returned to Kakariko when they got older and helped Luda rebuild and expand, inviting people from all corners of the world to move there until the once barely-populated village turned into a productive, peaceful town. They were busy there, but happy—Malo running his store as always, Talo serving as mayor, Luda taking over as shaman since her father had retired. Early last spring, they had sent a letter announcing the coming of Talo and Luda's first child, and that they would come to Ordon as soon as they could.

"I'll be glad to see them," Alari says, thinking of Luda's warm glow and Talo's mischievous smile that had lasted through the years. "All right, Lily," she says, and gives the child a gentle nudge towards the house Shad and Ilia had built, just around the corner from Ilia's childhood home. "I've got to be getting home now. You go tell your parents the good news."

She tugs on the leather reins and crosses the river, Wing's hooves clip-clopping on the stone bridge, and reaches the clearing where she has lived all of her life. Her family lives in a tree. It may be strange for some people, but for her father, nothing else has ever been home, so this is where they stay.

Alari pulls the saddle off of her horse's back and brushes him off, then unfastens his bridle and lets him go. Wing wanders sometimes, but he always, always comes back, and that's maybe the best thing about him.  
The fire crackles and spits inside the hearth and warms up the house, and Alari breathes in the scent of pumpkin stew and fresh breath. Her father stands at the counter, spooning stew into wooden bowls. Voices drift down from the upper floor—her mother's, smooth and reassuring, and her brother's, sounding frustrated. She pulls off her worn leather boots and leaves them on the doormat, then sweeps into the kitchen in her sock feet and picks up two of the bowls to set down on the table.

"—just take a breath, Kylan," her mother is saying. "Close your eyes, and focus all of your energy in your chest. Then—"

"I've been doing that for the past two hours," her brother growls.

"You'll learn in time. It takes many Twili children years to develop this technique, and you've already gotten farther in a day than most would in a month."

"How long did it take you to perfect your energy shield?" Kylan asks.

Midna pauses, and Alari can hear the hesitance in her answer. "About two days."

"Two days! And I can't even get a flicker to surround me for a second!"

"Yes, but you are half-Twili, and I am a full-blooded member of the royal family," her mother says patiently. "I had stronger magic than everyone but my father." Alari hears a rustle of cloth as her mother stands up. "Take a break. Dinner in a few minutes." Midna makes her way down the ladder and wraps her arms around Link from behind. Her father smiles and turns his head to give his wife a kiss.

Alari slips past them and climbs the ladder to the loft, where her brother sits cross-legged on the carpet, looking sulky. Kylan is four years younger than Alani at eleven, but he's always been more mature than the other kids in Ordon. His Hylian ears stick out of shaggy orange-red hair, contrasting sharply with his light gray Twili skin. He looks up with innocent blue eyes as Alari joins him on the floor.

"I can't get it right," he says. "Every time I try the shield, nothing happens."

"Yeah, well, I can't work any Twili magic," she jokes, but he doesn't smile. Alari sighs and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Kylan, you can do amazing things. You're much better than you realize. Look at me—fifteen and I can't so much as summon an energy spark. But you, you're throwing magical spears and breaking through metal already."

He's looking at her now, a small flicker of hope in his eyes. "You'll get it eventually, little brother. So just be patient, all right?" She tilts her head to the side and offers him a grin.

And Kylan smiles back.


	4. blood on the ice

This chapter was a bitch to write and I don't know why because it's not even a page long and I'm sorry.

* * *

The spring has been covered in a sheet of ice overnight, solid white and thick enough to support a person. Kylan stares at it for a long time, and wonders if the crops will survive in this weather. It's the coldest winter since anyone can remember, unnaturally cold—freezing winds, scarce food, withering plants—all after a year of warm weather.

The footsteps behind him are so quiet he doesn't even notice until her voice rings out through the clearing. "Is watching the ice really so entertaining?"

Kylan sighs, and doesn't need to turn around to picture his sister, towering over him with her hands on her hips. "No, not really."

Alari gives him a chuckle. "Why don't we go fetch the kids? This ice is perfect for skating."

He's just beginning to reply when there's a thud and a muffled cry from behind him, and he whirls around to see an empty space that Alari should be filling. Heart beating fast, he scans the area while backing up, but there is no one there—just his sister's footprints in the dust that end a few feet away from where he was just standing.

Kylan opens his mouth to call his sister's name, or yell for help—he isn't sure which but before any sound comes out, something hits him full force in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground with a cry.

His head smacks into the ice hard, and his vision goes foggy—he feels blood begin to trickle down the back of his scalp and realizes he can't breathe. A blurry shape sits on top of his chest, blocking the air from reaching his lungs.

"I would like to say that I personally have no quarrel with you, or your sister." The voice reaches his ears in broken fragments—female, and young, surprisingly soft and lovely. He can't make out her face, but the sun turns her red hair blood-colored. "But my lord does, and his enemies are also mine. I will not kill you on the condition that—"

A shape slams into his assailant, sending them both flying across his field of vision. Kylan catches a whiff of her scent—golden wheat and grass, and he doesn't need his eyes to know that Alari has come to his rescue. "You don't touch my little brother," she growls almost savagely, and steel clangs against steel with a sound that echoes through the clearing.

"You are quite skilled with the sword, daughter of Link and Midna. Should I assume your father taught you?"

"Why are you _here_?" Alani shouts. "What do you want?"

If she gets an answer, Kylan doesn't hear it, because everything fades to black.


	5. cracks

Alari fights like a demon, but she knows she's losing the battle. Her opponent is older than her and clearly more experienced—Alari has never fought like this, protecting her home village and her brother and her own life. The girl's golden brown eyes are as sharp and deadly as her twin daggers, one crimson like her brother's blood and one dark like the night sky.

"If you surrender, I can promise that you live," the girl says in a voice like silk, one dagger braced against Alari's sword, their arms shaking. "If you stay here and out of my way, you won't get hurt. I don't waste lives."

Alari snorts and heaves her sword up with all of her strength, leaping away from the black dagger as it comes slicing down. "You actually think I'll let you past, so you can attack my village and the people I care about? Maybe you're quick to betray as soon as the opportunity comes up, but I'm not."

The girl narrows her honey eyes and meets Alari's swing with both daggers. "There are many things you can call me, girl. Disloyal is not one of them."

Alari's foot slips and she realizes she has been driven to the edge of the spring, where the ice blankets the water. Losing her balance, she drops to a crouch and rolls to the side, hoping to catch her enemy by surprise. Throwing all of her weight into her jump, she surges forward and lands on the girl's back, sending them both falling, falling, hitting the ice hard.

She hears a crack.

They stare at each other unblinking for a moment, both too shocked to register what the sound means. Then Alari launches herself away and sprints toward her brother, lying on his back with blood still dripping from his head wound. She puts both hands under his arms and pulls him off the ice at exactly the moment the first chunk collapses under the girl. She falls with a splash but no other sound, and the rest of the cracks spread. Alari heaves Kylan onto her back and half-stumbles, half-runs toward her house.

She can already smell the smoke. The village is burning.


	6. sneers and stealing

Kylan breathes in heavy, shallow gasps that feel hot on Alari's neck as she carries him into the village. She knows somewhere that she should be moving _away _instead of _towards_ but her feet move that way regardless, in the direction of her home, her friends, her family. Several black plumes of smoke rise up in the air, contrasting sharply with the clear azure sky.

One comes from her own home.

Alari tries to keep down the panicked animal sounds coming from her own throat, but they're released anyway. Flames snake their way up the front and eat up the tree that has served as their center for years—it is all burning, disappearing—

She screams for her parents, because what if they're still inside, what if they're—

"No," she says out loud. Her parents are the Twilight Princess and the Hero Chosen by the Gods. If Alari knows anything, it's that her parents are the strongest people in the world, and that they are _not dead._

She realizes why the girl attacked her and her brother—a distraction, a trick, a diversion, to keep them from getting in the way of this.

The first thing Alari sees is fire, everywhere, burning through the quiet and covering the peace in choking black smoke.

The second thing she sees are her parents, side by side and cutting through practically an army of women in red and black uniforms. But Midna and Link are an army by themselves, and she is not surprised to them fighting as one—they move together like they can read each other's thoughts, and become a terrifying force of sword and shield and energy and Twilight fire.

Alari takes one step towards them, and then she sees the woman in front of her—tall with muscled arms and tan weather-beaten skin, holding a wickedly sharp spear in one hand. She aims the point at Alari and glares with fierce dark eyes—eyes that go wide with shock as a sphere of pink-red energy slams into her back, and she crumples to the ground.

Her mother stands there, magic flowing around her wrists without effort, a grim expression on her face. Midna's eyes glow bright red with anger, and her mouth is set in a determined line.

Alari would be terrified, if Midna was her enemy and not her mother.

Instead she just feels relieved.

"Take Wing and bring your brother somewhere safe," Midna says, voice strained and breathing hard. "We'll find you afterwards."

"But—" Alari begins, but something in her mother's eyes stops her. She hesitates for one moment, her lips parted with words she can't think to say. And then she whirls around and steps away from Midna—

—And slams right into a tall and very solid person, who chuckles in a way that sends chills down her spine.

In one ridiculously fast blow that Alari can't even process, the man has her sprawled on the ground, Kylan tumbling from her back and the whole left side of her face a mass of pain. And then she's yanked off the dirt and locked in the arms of one of the women, the spear crossed in front of her and making escape impossible.

The man strides forward towards her mother, and Alari catches a glimpse of his face—wicked eyes that look like pools of shadows, dark skin that looks sickly gray, a snarling smile that shows off bright white teeth.

The women in uniform stop fighting suddenly, even though many of them already lie at his feet. She can see Kylan, imprisoned by another guard, his head lolling forward.

Midna—the Twilight Princess and powerful as the sun—thrusts both arms forward, and even from here Alari can feel the blast of pure energy that surges from her core, sending black flames shooting out the tips of her fingers. But when the smoke clears, the man stands there, stock still with his back to Alari. Her mother's expression falters, but only for a split second. She sends forth a wave of energy that crashes right into her opponent. Pulls a spear made only of magic as if from thin air and hurtles it right at the man, hitting him directly in the stomach.

He doesn't even flinch. Instead he starts to pull the spear out, blood staining the grass, leaving a gaping hole in his stomach. Alari tastes bile in her throat and watches Midna's spear fall to the ground. He starts to walk forward, towards her mother.

An arrow flies past Midna and towards the man, hitting him square in the shoulder, but he keeps walking, yanking out like an irritating splinter. Alari struggles against her captor, but the woman is impossibly strong. She can see her father, running towards Midna at top speed, running, running—

And then Link and Midna are on the ground, screaming and writhing against some pain that Alari can't see. The man stands there, arm outstretched and fingers spread wide, and _laughs_. Alari yells and thrashes and fights the woman holding her; trying to get away, trying to help her parents, trying to do _something_.

Light streams out from Link's left hand like a beacon, straight towards the man's gloved hand. A twin beam comes from Midna, pinkish-red like Twili magic. Then he drops his hand to his side and Midna and Link are released, gasping for air and shuddering on the ground.

"Well, I must thank you for that," he says, in a smooth low voice laced with darkness and hidden anger. "You've helped me quite a bit in my quest."

With a snap of his fingers, a section of the ground seems to fall away into darkness, green lines criss-crossing around the pool. Alari recognizes the markings—unmistakably Twili. With a nod from the man, two of the women each take one of Link's arms, and heave him into what she realizes is a portal, leading to—where?

The man puts a hand under her chin, rough calluses scraping against her skin, and stares at her with black eyes ringed with orange. She stares back, her own silver eyes bright with defiance and anger. He sneers, breath hot on her face, and she feels ice freeze her blood.

"Who are you?" she spits, glowering brave and foolish rebellion in his face. "What do you _want_?"

He chuckles. "My name is Ebon, and I have come to reclaim what is mine."

Suddenly, light bursts from Alari's right hand—her sword hand, warmth spreading to her chest and covering over the fear like a blanket. Raw strength floods her and she slams her head back, hearing a sickening crack as the woman holding her falls. In one movement, she draws her sword and slashes it at Ebon, and he lets her, blood gushing out of the wound but not having any effect. She darts to the side, quick as the wind and driven by some kind of insane bravery, and crashes into the guard holding Kylan, knocking her over and catching her brother before anyone can react.

"Get the girl!" Alari hears Ebon roar over the pounding of her head. But she is already running, despite the weight of another person and her exhaustion. She puts her fingers to her lips and lets out a piercing whistle—one high, one low, calling for Wing. Feet pound behind her, coming closer and closer, and she doesn't dare look back.

She flies past her house, towards the spring and the bridge, and hears the sound of hoofbeats somewhere behind her. Wing hurtles through the clearing, crashing through trees and pursuers alike to reach Alari. Without stopping, she all but throws Kylan onto Wing's back and leaps on behind him, wrapping her arms around his torso and tangling her fingers in Wing's white mane.

Adrenaline pumping and lungs heaving, they thunder through the woods and don't stop. Alari looks down and realizes a soft glow still comes from the back of her hand.

Imbedded into the skin like it's been there her whole life, the Triforce of Courage pulses golden light in time with her beating heart.


	7. disappearing act

Kylan wakes up in an unfamiliar bed, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling with blurry eyes. His shirt is covered in rust-colored dried blood, and his skull feels like it's being pierced by a thousand tiny needles from the inside. A cotton bandage wraps around his head, tied tightly in the back.

He peers through the lace hanging in front of his bed at the large room that seems to be all white, filled with beds and curtains meant for privacy. A stern-looking woman with rectangular spectacles paces up and down the infirmary, checking on the few patients on the opposite side of the room.

Alari slouches in an uncomfortable-looking chair next to the bed, sleeping breaths coming soft and slow. She wears the same wrinkled, dusty clothes she had on when he last saw her. Kylan smiles wryly. Knowing his sister, she hasn't left his side this whole time.

He twists to look out the window behind him, feeling his spine crack in several places as he does so, and looks out at the misty gardens and bustling crowds surrounding a fountain crowned by the Hylian Crest.

Hyrule Castle Town.

Alari must have brought him here after…after what? A sudden icy fear takes hold of him. Something drastic must have happened to make her leave and take him with her. Kylan pulls off his bloody shirt and replaces it with the clean tunic folded on the table next to his bed. His familiar hide boots are set by the table, and he tugs them on and stands up on stiff legs.

Taking a last glance at his sleeping sister, he slips out from behind the curtain and runs straight into the nurse, a middle-aged woman with a dark brown ponytail who's squinting at him skeptically.

"You aren't supposed to be out of your bed, young man," she nags, planting her hands firmly on her hips.

"I need to see the queen."

"Yeah, you and half of Hyrule. But I'm supposed to be taking care of you, not granting you audience to our ruler." She squints at him even harder, if that's even possible.

"Please. I'm the Hero and the Twilight Princess's son. That's my sister in there. I know Queen Zelda personally."

The nurse sighs and slaps her forehead, shaking her head and mumbling, "I'm not getting paid enough for this." She gestures to a younger nurse spoon-feeding a sick child and sweeps out of the room, tossing a brisk, "Come with me," behind her shoulder.

Kylan follows her through Hyrule Castle's twisting corridors and candlelit rooms, passing so many doors he knows he'll never be able to find his way back. "You're interrupting the queen in the middle of lunch, so don't expect her to be happy about it," the nurse says as she practically sprints up the stairs to the throne room. "And if I hear you whine about it later, Hero's son or not, I swear I'll spank you."

He hides a smirk and says, "Yeah, I get it."

She gives him a sharp glare. "Young man, if you're backtalking me—oh, looks like we're here. I'll wait here to _escort _you back to the infirmary."

Kylan bounds up the second staircase quickly, eager to see the queen, who is practically and aunt to him and Alari. She is wise and experienced, and she always knows what to do.

He pushes open the throne room doors, but Zelda is nowhere to be found.


	8. children of war

"He took her."

The words come out of her mouth before Alari even processes the thoughts. And then she knows it's true—Ebon, the one who invaded Ordon, the one who hurt her parents, he must have Zelda.

"I'm sure there could be another rational explanation to this," her brother reasons. "She could be visiting the Zoras, or—"

"You didn't see him, Kylan," Alari says quietly, a shiver running down her back that has nothing to do with the temperature. "He…took the Triforce of Courage, ripped it away from Father—"

"And now you have it," he finishes for her. "And he has the Triforce of Wisdom, too." She winces as she looks at the triangles embedded in her skin—she still can't get used to the sight. She looks back at her brother—wild orange hair and blood-stained bandage and childish blue eyes, and remembers that he is only eleven and she is only fifteen, and they're too young for this.

"What does he want?" she thinks out loud, and pulls her knees up to her chest, curling up in the armchair that's made for a person twice her size. They're in the castle library—Kylan's favorite place and her least favorite, because she can never sit still enough to read. But the smell of books and the comforting quiet reminds her of her mother, and home.

"The other villagers," he says. "Colin and Ilia and Fado and everyone—what happened to them?"

"I don't know," she chokes out like the words hurt her throat. "I don't know where they are, I don't know what happened to our parents, I don't know why I have the Triforce of Courage, I don't know what we're going to do, I don't know, I don't know—"

"I don't know either," Kylan interrupts. "What we need is to talk to someone who does. Renado, or Ralis, or Telma…someone."

"Navin!" Alari practically shouts, jumping up from her chair and receiving several glares and _shhh's _from nearby readers. She glares back at them and sinks into her chair, lowering her voice.

"If anyone can track Zelda and our parents, it's Zelda's son himself," she says fiercely. "And he always, always knows what to do."

"You're blushing," Kylan points out, a mischeveous grin spreading across his face.

"Shut up!" Alari hisses, almost cuffing him across the head before she remembers his injury. Just the thought of the Crown Prince makes her feel better—his reassuring smile, his solidness, the twinkle in his dreamy blue eyes—

"—find out where he is?" her brother is saying.

"I don't know where he is," she answers, blushing even more in her attempt to stop the heat flooding her cheeks. "But I'll find out. Let me ask around—if there's anything I'm good at, it's uncovering information."

"I'll help," Kylan begins, but she shakes her head, looking at the dark circles under his eyes and the way he rubs his temples as if to ease a headache.

"You go get some rest, little brother," Alari says, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair and crush him in her arms, because right now he just looks like a little boy and she is his big sister. "I'll find you afterwards."

She navigates her way through the castle's confusing hallways to the guard barracks, a place she knows well from visiting her father while he trained the guards. The captain, a strict-looking man whose face was all sharp angles, is barking orders at his men as they stood at attention. Alari knows the captain well enough to know his soft heart, having beat him in countless sparring matches.

As the rookie guards file away to their posts, she approaches the captain from behind. He spins around like expecting an attack, but his hard face softens when he sees her.

"Captain," she says with a salute. He nods to her in response. "Something has happened to the queen." She can see from the absolute shock that slams into his face that this information is new. "I need to know where Prince Navin is, immediately."

"On patrol north of Kakariko Village," he answers quickly, the news still registering in his mind.

"Then that's where I'm headed. Get your men up to the throne room and see if you can find any evidence," she says, and sweeps away before he can yell at her for ordering him around.

Alari speedwalks back to the infirmary and pulls back the curtain in front of Kylan's bed. She finds him asleep, breath heavy and slow, a peaceful dream-smile on his face.

She chews on her lip and looks at her little brother's sleeping face, her decision already made. Then she turns and slips out of the castle alone.


	9. independence

Kylan wakes up to the knowledge that Alari is gone, and it doesn't surprise him at all.

He tells himself this, over and over, as he pushes through Castle Town's crowds and stumbles down an alley-staircase.

But that doesn't make it hurt any less.

Telma's bar is as crowded as it usually is in the evening, and he has to skirt a group of wasted guards scream-singing their heads off to reach the counter. The owner herself stands with her hands on her hips, surveying the crowd with furrowed eyebrows. Her once flaming hair has become streaked with gray over the years, but the twinkle in her eyes remains the same. Telma spots Kylan as he squeezes in between two drunken men who are hollering bad insults at each other. Her eyebrows shoot up on her forehead and she almost drops the mug she's scrubbing.

"Kylan!" She has to almost shout over the noise in the room. He circles around behind the counter, giving the cat a pat on the head as he passes. Telma practically slams into him, enfolding him in a warm hug as her arsenal of questions is launched.

"How's your father? How's your mother? What about your sister? What's my girl Ilia up to these days? Have you heard from Renado recently? When—"

"Telma," he says, cutting her off before she can finish. Kylan pulls away from the suffocating hug and looks up at her. The smile drops from her face and shatters on the floor as she takes in the bandage wrapped around his head and the bags under his eyes.

"Go ahead into the back room," she says, leaning her head in so no one else will hear. "The others are already there. I'll come as soon as I can."

* * *

blaahhhhhh no time to write D:


	10. the clear winter sky

Alari rides low over Wing's back, legs gripping tightly and blond hair flying in the wind. She's exhausted, and worried, but she refuses to stop until she finds Navin and his unit of soldiers, wherever they are. She has only stopped once in the past six hours, and only to give her horse a rest.

Alari snorts and wonders if Kylan is looking for her yet.

She wonders if he'll ever forgive her.

Because she _abandoned_ him, leaving without a word, spoken or scrawled in a hasty note, when he's injured and when their parents are—

Well, she doesn't know where their parents are. But she's going to find out, and that's why her little brother with his sparkle-innocent eyes can stay safe in the castle.

She hopes. There is no way that he will actually _stay_ in the castle—there's something they both learned from their hero-parents, and that's determination. Their family does not give up, ever.

Ever.

When she spots the single rider on the horizon, hope sparks deep in her chest like a candle in the dark. The horse moves very slowly, and the rider sways in the saddle, slumped over like they can't sit up.

Alari slows Wing to a trot, and then a walk as they approach the other horse. She sees the royal guard's uniform first, and then the Hylian Crest on his tunic, and then the familiar set to his shoulders…

"Navin!" Alari gasps, the name tearing its way from her throat on its own. The rider's head raises as she practically leaps out of the saddle and hits the ground running until she reaches his horse's side.

That's when she sees the blood, staining his horse's white coat, trickling down his left side, mixing with sweat and salt tears of pain, and she sees the arrow buried deep within his shoulder.

He makes some kind of groaning sound that has her name in it, and topples off of his horse's back.


	11. foolish

She catches Navin right before he hits the ground, his weight bringing them both down, but Alari manages to cushion his fall. Trying to support his head and shoulders, she sinks to the grass on her knees and finds his crystal blue eyes staring up at her face. He's covered in scrapes and bruises and his already pale skin has gone practically white from blood loss. His cropped hair, a shade darker than Zelda's, is plastered to his forehead with sweat.

"What happened?" Alari demands, her voice shaking. "Where are your soldiers? Who shot you?"

"They ambushed us near the river," he mumbles. "Women in uniform led by a man." Alari's blood goes cold and her breath sticks in her throat. Ebon. "They overwhelmed us. I think they wanted me, but I got out. I think I'm the only one who survived. My company…they made sure I escaped."

"They came to Ordon too," she says as she pulls out her belt knife and starts cutting the bloody fabric away from his wound. "They…they got my parents. Kylan is at the castle with a head wound. Your mother…"

"I know," Navin says hoarsely, and lifts up a trembling hand for her to see.

Alari supposes she shouldn't be surprised, but she still is. The left triangle of the Triforce is filled in, marking him just as it marked her. She covers his hand with her, and finds herself laughing for no reason at all. "Wisdom and Courage," she says bitterly. "What can stop us now?"

Suddenly, she realizes how hot his skin is. He's burning up but shivering uncontrollably. Fever.

"Pretty bad, huh?" he says, not showing must interest in his voice.

"You're an idiot," Alari chokes out through the tightness in her throat, trying to control her facial expression.

"Alari—"

"No, I'm not going to listen to you."

"Alari—"

"We aren't very far from Kakariko Village, and Renado is there. You're going to be fine."

"Alari—"

"And my father taught me some medicine skills, I know what to do."

"_Alari_," Navin says authoritatively, using the voice that came attached to his princely side, a side that he rarely showed in front of her. He pushes himself up on his good arm, wincing at the pain from his shoulder, completely ignoring her protests, and wraps both arms around her.

"You're an idiot," she repeats, feeling his sticky blood soak into her shirt and the heat radiating from his skin.

"I know," he says, and sags against her, unconscious.


	12. the resistance

I've been so busy these past few weeks and I'm really sorry...but Thanksgiving break starts Saturday so I'm going to update. A lot. I promise (and this time I really am telling the truth.)

* * *

The only 'other' sitting at the wooden table is Ashei, and she looks decades older amongst the dusty crates and barrels of ale. Kylan realizes that she is the only one left—Shad and Rusl are settled down, and Auru is dead, and perhaps that's why she looks so sad as she sits there alone in the candlelight. She watches him with unsurprised black eyes as he sinks into the seat across from her.

"What happened to you, kid?" Ashei asks, gesturing to the bandage around his head.

"Ordon was attacked and the queen is gone," he says. She lets out some sort of gasp and leaps out of her chair. "I'll explain when Telma comes in."

"We need to get Rusl in here," she blurts out. "And…and Shad." She forces the name out of her throat like it's painful to say. It was no secret that Ashei loves Shad, has loved him for a very long time, but he is married with a daughter and Ashei is left here, all alone with a mug of bad ale.

"I don't know where they are," Kylan chokes on the words, thinking of six-year-old Lily and kind Uli and strong Colin and his _parents_—

The door opens and he catches fragments of conversation and drunken singing before it closes and Telma walks in. She approaches the table with an expression that is almost afraid, and on her it stirs up something in Kylan's stomach, something that feels like terror.

"Tell me everything," she says very calmly as she takes a seat, and the story begins to spill out of Kylan's lips. It doesn't take long to tell, but he feels a stab of pain that is almost physical when he says, "Alari is gone, searching for Prince Navin. She left without me, and I have no idea where she is now."

The silence that follows feels as heavy as a blanket of snow, and it piles on top of Kylan until he can't breathe. Ashei is the one to break through it, her eyes dark and grim as she surveys the two of them carefully.

"We need to learn more about this Ebon character. Find out who he is, yeah? Only Twili are supposed to be able to create portals."

"And what he did to Midna and Link," Telma says, her voice low and serious. "The Triforce is supposed to choose its own master. But he took the Triforce of Courage from Link, and maybe the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda, and possibly Midna's magic. Anyone who possesses power like that…" She rubs her temples, then stands up and started to pace back and forth.

"But the thing is, he didn't get the Triforce of Courage," Kylan points out. "Alari has it. That's what helped her escape."

"I hate to say it, because we've always done everything on our own," Telma says, whirling around to face the other direction. "But we need help."

"Agreed," Ashei says. "We can call on all the allies we've made, yeah? Get together a group that can rise up to meet this threat. We do have plenty of friends in high places."

"I think our best bet right now is to lay low," Kylan suggests. "We shouldn't make this a public thing. People would panic."

"Well," Telma concluded, coming to a halt in front of them. "Kylan, how do you feel about some research?"

* * *

I do not own Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess or any of its original characters. If I did, well, that'd be awesome, but I don't.


	13. growing up too fast

"You can't be serious," Alari says shakily, her chin trembling. She looks from face to face, Renado to Luda, Luda to Renado, and sees nothing but truth in their eyes.

Luda lets out a breath and puts her hand on Alari's shoulder. "We did all we could for him. Prince Navin nearly died from fever and blood loss. Losing an arm is an awful price to pay, but he will survive."

"He—" Alari starts, and then her throat closes and she doesn't continue her sentence.

Luda's expression is soft and gentle, and normally it would have made Alari feel better right away. She runs a hand through her long night-black hair and smoothes down her fringed shaman robes. "You must be strong, Alari. For him." Then she exchanges a look with her father and floats away in a rustle of cloth.

Renado watches her go with pride in his dark eyes, and in the candlelight he looks impossibly old. "Prince Navin was unconscious during the actual amputation, my dear. He sleeps still." He looks at her sadly, and the lines around his eyes are as deep as Kakariko Gorge. "He will need you when he awakens".

And then Renado is gone, and Alari is left staring emptily at the hollow space he left behind. She is shaking in a way that has nothing to do with the temperature. She takes a breath and pushes open the door to the sickroom.

Navin looks impossibly small underneath the blankets, and—suddenly she's seven again, staying at the palace while her parents are away fighting, and she doesn't know whether they'll come back or not, and eight year old Navin gives her a daisy from the garden and tells her not to worry.

Alari sinks down into the stool next to his bed and presses her face into her hands.


	14. allies

Kylan's boots make almost no sound on the coral floor of the throne room. A chilly breeze blows in from Lake Hylia, sending goosebumps up his arms, and suddenly he wishes he had Alari with him.

But then again, she might botch the diplomatic speech he has created and rehearsed in his head.

It had taken hours just to reach Zora's Domain. He and Ashei had walked from Castle Town up to the northern part of Hyrule Field, where a cave lay embedded in the surface of a rock wall. They had scrambled through the dark, damp space, surrounded by rock walls that seemed to be closing in, and finally emerged just outside of the throne room. Then Ashei had left him, heading off to Snowpeak to find the Yeti couple that lived there. She had chosen the precarious mountains only because she had the most experience there, so that he or Telma wouldn't have to risk perishing in the deep snow. Telma is on her way to Kakariko—because, of course, Renado is there, and Telma had never quite let go of the childish crush she has on him.

Which leaves Kylan and the Zoras.

He can spot the king and queen as he ventures deeper into the throne room, perched on their ornate stone chairs and trying to keep the bored expressions off their faces. Zoras lounge on the tiles or splash in the water or do acrobatic flips deep under the pool, except for a few helmeted guards that surround the thrones.

King Ralis, in his early thirties and almost taller than Kylan's father, fixes his brilliant green eyes on Kylan and nudges his wife. His necklaces jingle together as he stands up, the sunlight catching on his pinkish-white skin. The queen looks tiny in comparison, always shorter than average and stick-skinny. Blonde-brown hair frames her freckled face, and she blinks blue eyes as a smile tugs at her lips.

Beth throws away her regal mask and rushes forward to sweep Kylan up in her skinny arms, and even though she is barely taller than him it still feels safe.

Kylan supposes Ordon will always be more of a family than a village, no matter where its inhabitants are.

Ralis walks up more slowly, but there is still a wide grin on his face, showing off brilliant white teeth, and Kylan has no idea why he was nervous. He tells them everything, and by the time he is done there is no more laughter.

"We keep this secret," Ralis says, his voice rumbling from deep in his chest like an avalanche. "The public won't find out about it."

Beth nods, and the two of them exchange a look that Kylan will never be able to understand. "We will send a small, elite team that we know we can trust. They'll spread out and search the rivers. We need to find out about this threat, but subtly."

"Kylan," Ralis says, putting a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eye. "You can rely on us. Zora soldiers are quiet and stealthy. We'll zero in on this Ebon man and his guards and learn whatever we can, without them realizing we were there, then report back to Telma or Renado."

"Thank you," he says. "Thank you both. Ashei is on her way to Snowpeak to ask help of Yeto and Yeta. Telma's going to Kakariko, for Talo and Malo, to see if they can aid us in any way."

Beth's face lights up with a smile like the sun reflecting on the water. "Of course those morons will help you. And there's no refusing Telma once she's got an idea in her mind."

"What about you?" Ralis asks. "What will you do?"

Kylan looks back in the direction of Castle Town, where the highest towers of Hyrule Castle are just visible. He swallows, and thinks of his parents, and thinks of Alari—reassuring silver eyes and a laugh that makes his heart lift.

"I'm going after my sister."


	15. stitching up wounds

"I'm fine," Navin growls, but she can tell from the layered pain in his voice and the tension in his muscles that he is far from fine. Alari knows him too well to fall for that lie, and—and clearly he's not trying very hard to convince her.

"Nav," she says very gently, as if coaxing a wounded animal. "You can't actually expect me to believe that."

It's as if all the strength drains out of him and he slumps against the headboard, staring and staring at his one hand. "I wonder what they'll think of me now," he murmurs. "The honorable crown prince, overwhelmed by a simple bandit raid, forced to lose an arm because of an unstoppable foe—infection." Navin chuckles as if something was suddenly very amusing.

"They won't think that. The people love you. You're a brilliant magic user, a genius diplomat, and strong warrior—"

"Not anymore."

Alari presses her lips together and stares at the wooden planks in the floor. If she'd reacted faster, if she'd gotten him to Kakariko at top speed—

"I'm sorry," she chokes out. "I…I should have galloped here as fast as Wing could manage, I should have found water to clean the arrow wound, I should have…I could have saved your arm…"

Navin makes some sort of sighing sound and shakes his head. "Look who's being the stupid one now, Alari. Did you shoot me in the shoulder? No. If you hadn't found me out there, I would've died. I was completely delirious—I had no idea which way was Kakariko and which was the castle and which was the way I came. You might not have saved my arm, but you saved my life."

"Don't talk about it like it's nothing. Anyone could look at you right now and see how much it hurts."

He drops his eyes back to his hand, and he looks so sad and so young and all she wants to do is wrap her arms around him. His hair is disheveled and tangled, and sweat beads his face and his torso, and he has to be in agony, and he's trying to comfort _her_.

Alari is never going to be as strong as Navin, but now more than ever she needs to try.

"I'm going to find him," she tells him. "I'm going to find Ebon and stop him, whatever it takes—even if it comes down to me fighting him in single combat. He won't get away with this."

Navin looks at her, and the tears turn his eyes crystal blue. "Thank you."

Carefully, carefully, she puts a hand on his good shoulder and brings her lips to his forehead. "Get some rest," she whispers, and slips out of the room as quietly as possible.

Alari closes the door behind her and starts down the hotel's stairs, hearing voices in the main room. Renado is there, talking face to face with someone Alari can't see. Talo and Luda stand to his side, looking worried.

Then Renado shifts slightly, and she gets a clear view of—

"Telma?"


	16. meetings on shadowy nights

Zelda Twilight Princess belongs to Nintendo and I don't own any in game characters or settings

* * *

The moon is bright overhead, but the darkness is still thick and choking in the air. Kylan clings to his torch like a lifeline, and realizes that this is one of his worst ideas ever.

Hyrule Field is more dangerous at night than during daybreak. Anything could jump out at him and catch him off guard. He should've found a safe place to camp for the night.

Kylan swallows nervously and thinks of the night before everything went wrong, when his mother had been trying to teach him how to cast an energy shield. Her voice bounces back and forth in his ears, and he misses her like something sharp and jagged in his stomach. He shuts his eyes, and draws his energy into his chest—the heat under his skin, the nervous sparks in his mind, what keeps him moving and breathing—he pulls it all into one point, and then pushes it out, letting it surround him like a bubble.

His eyes fly open and he finds a sphere of transparent black covering him, meeting the ground with orange-red lines. It gives him a sense of protection, and relief fills him with new warmth.

Kylan continues down the path to Kakariko, his footsteps a little quicker now. His hope is that Alari is there, with the crown prince or not, and if she isn't he can meet with Telma and plan with her. He knows Ashei went back to Castle Town to keep connections open between their tiny group, the Yetis on Snowpeak, and the Zoras.

"It seems you are not defenseless after all," says a familiar voice from somewhere in the gloom, and Kylan yelps and nearly drops his torch. The girl is planted on the path in front of him, legs spread into a steady stance and twin daggers dangling at her sides. He has no idea how she got there, but her face jolts him back to a different time, when blood trickled from the newly opened wound on his forehead and his vision went blurry. The deep red hair that reaches her shoulders and the black-and-red uniform confirm it—she's the one who attacked him the day Ebon invaded Ordon.

"You," he breathes, and a cold rage forms in his chest. "You—I thought you fell—"

"I did," she says. "But I survived. And so did you."

Kylan responds by pouring his anger out in the form of Twili magic, lashing out with an orb of pink-red energy that the girl dodges easily. He clenches his fists together and thrusts his arms out, fingers spread wide, sending deadly sharp darts in her direction. He hears her muffled grunt as one strikes her shoulder and another her calf, quickly dissolving into the air after they hit.

The girl darts forward too quickly for him to process, and before he knows it her daggers are crashing through his black shield. Kylan stumbles back, shoving forward a wave of energy in a desperate attempt to stop her, but she is already behind him, her arms wrapped around him in a tight hold.

"I'm sorry," she whispers in his ear, her hair tickling his cheek.

And then something hits him in the back of the head, and Kylan blacks out.


	17. truth

Kylan wakes to find her staring at him across the campfire, the flames reflecting on her honey colored eyes. Her knees are drawn up to her chest, and she looks much younger and much less deadly. She can't be more than seventeen.

"That's the second time you've knocked me out in the past week or so," he says, heaving himself into a sitting position, which is difficult with his hands tied behind his back. "I don't exactly appreciate it."

"My name is Evaline, of the Gerudo Tribe," she responds, meeting his eyes evenly.

"The Gerudo," Kylan repeats. "But they're—"

"In hiding. Deep in the desert, where no one will find them."

"Why…why are you telling me this?"

"Because you remind me of someone," she says, and her voice is unsteady. "Because you're, what, eleven? Because I serve my lord, but I also serve myself, and keeping an innocent creature captive like this isn't right."

"Your lord," Kylan says, his mind racing, trying to think of how he can get more information out of her. "Why do you obey his orders if you don't think they're right?"

Evaline's mouth twists into a bitter smile. "It's hard to be in love, little one. You'll find out some day. My lord is hurt and confused and misguided. He grew up underneath the legacy of a revered leader, and he is expected to be the man his father was. He is held at a distance from everyone, and can hardly trust his own people."

_The legacy of a revered leader._

_ The Gerudo._

_ Ganondorf._

The pieces fall into place in Kylan's mind, and he sucks in a quiet breath. Ganondorf. Ebon. Dark magic. Ebon. Ganondorf. The thoughts swirl around his head like a whirlpool, and he fights to keep them off his facial expression.

Ebon is Ganondorf's son.

"Maybe he has a difficult past," he says to Evaline, forcing the words to come out steadily. "But it doesn't justify what he's doing."

Her face hardens, and she shoots up with a dagger in her hand, eyes glowing an intense gold in the firelight, and crosses to him in two steps. The dagger comes slicing down, and Kylan waits and waits and waits for the pain, but all he gets is the sound of ropes snapping.

He opens his eyes to find his binds cut, scattered around in the dirt and leaving his hands free. Evaline stands over him with a look on her face that he can't define—regret, or sadness, or maybe disbelief at what she has just done.

"You're letting me go?" he says incredulously. "Just like that?"

"Go before I do the sensible thing and tie you up again."

Kylan stands and gives her a last glance—knuckles white against a deadly dagger and lips pressed into a thin line—and whips around into a run, away from her campfire.

He isn't sure, but he could swear he saw tears in her eyes.


	18. catching up

Lots of dialouge in this chapter so it's longer than usual.

If you left a review that would be great yeah? ^_^

* * *

Alari sprints to Kakariko's entrance as soon as she hears the news.

She pushes past the market crowd and blows through the main road to the gate, spotting the small group gathered there and shouting an apology to a woman she probably hit on her frantic rush there.

She practically shoves Malo out of the way to see if it's true, and—

Her little brother is standing there, looking exhausted and ruffled but none the worse for wear, his Hylian ears sticking out of his bird's nest of orange hair and the circles under his eyes a shade darker than his gray skin.

"Kylan," she breathes, and all the guilt and the worry comes rushing up, and she fights against the tears that prick her eyes, and throws her arms around his tiny shoulders.

"Kylan, I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry for leaving—"

Alari feels him relax against her, and his arms come up around her torso, and she knows she's forgiven.

"I have news," he whispers in her ear, too quietly for the others to hear. "Big news."

"I do too," she murmurs, and her stomach clenches at the thought of Navin. She pulls away to find everyone staring at them—Telma with an adoring smile on her lips, Talo and Luda with their son in between them, Renado and Barnes exchanging knowing glances, Malo wearing his usual apathetic expression.

One-year-old Caden, wobbling around on chubby toddler legs, smiles with Talo's mischievous spark and totters around his parents' legs. He has a shock of dark hair and bright green eyes that melt Alari's heart, and his giggles echo through the bustling town and lift her spirits.

"Follow me," she says to Kylan, and they walk through the dust and the market crowd to reach the inn. The old door creaks as Alari pushes it open, then muffles the sound of the town as it closes behind them. She leads Kylan up the stairs and into the sickroom, where Navin lies asleep, the remainder of his arm bandaged tightly. His breath comes pained and shallow, and Alari bites her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

Kylan stands trembling and silent beside her, his eyes wide with mixed horror and grief. "Nav…what happened to him?"

"Ebon and his women ambushed his company of soldiers," she says, the words tasting like acid on her tongue. "He got shot in the shoulder. I found him half-dead in the middle of Hyrule Field. The wound was infected, and…by the time I got him here it was too late. The arm was dead. It had to be taken off." She takes a shaky breath. "I couldn't save him."

This time she can't stop the tears that roll down her cheeks, because Navin looks so weak under the blankets, and it strikes her how unfair this is because—because he's crippled at only sixteen, and all three of them are too young to be doing this.

"It's not your fault," Kylan says quietly, and Alari finds herself smiling for no reason at all.

"You're far too wise for an eleven year old," she replies, and nudges him out of the room, shutting the door and leaning against it, all of her energy gone. "I hope your news is better than mine."

He scratches his head uncertainly and shrugs. "I have information about Ebon. But it's not exactly sounding good for us."

"Telma told me about you gathering allies, with Ashei. Did the Zoras come around?"

"Oh, yeah. Ralis and Beth gave me their full support. Yeto and Yeta have been scouring Snowpeak for any sign of Ebon, but I don't think he's interested in the mountains."

Alari slides down the door until she reaches the wooden planks of the floor and draws her knees up to her chest. "Then that's a good thing. We have eyes all over Hyrule. What's the bad part?"

He joins her on the floor, crossing his legs and leaning his back against the wall. "Remember the girl who attacked me in Ordon, the one you fought?"

Alari swallows and nods. Twin daggers and feral golden eyes and blood-red hair. Yes, she remembers.

"She's…well, she survived. And she kidnapped me on the road." He gives her a weak smile. "Guess traveling at night wasn't such a smart idea."

Alari gapes at him. "You walked here. Through Hyrule Field. In the dark. Alone." She smacks her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Were you _asking_ to be ambushed?"

"Well, she let me go. And…told me a lot. Alari, Ebon may be evil, but this girl Evaline…I don't think she's all bad."

"Start at the beginning, little brother. You're making no sense."

"Well. She hit me on the head. And when I woke up, she was staring at me, which was kind of creepy. Then we started talking, and she told me her name, and…" he falters. "The Gerudo are still alive. They're in hiding in the desert. Some of them stayed loyal to Ganondorf after he was sealed away by the Hero of Time—Father's…what, past life?"

"The women in red and black," Alari breathes. Of course. Brown-skinned, usually red-haired, strong fighters…

"But there's only supposed to be one man every century," she says. "Ganondorf hasn't been dead that long."

"I don't think Ebon is just any Gerudo. He's Ganondorf's _son_."

The world falls apart under Alari's feet.

She remembers his eyes, black outlined in orange, glaring at her with cruelty and arrogance, and his hand, hot against her skin. She remembers her mother throwing everything she had at him, only to have it shrugged off like an irritating bug.

Ganondorf had been the most powerful man alive. Only her father, blazing courage and strength, and her mother, using her dark magic for good because she had learned to love, and Queen Zelda, wielding wisdom and light, could take him down, and even then they had had help.

And now his son is alive, ripping across Hyrule with his hidden tribe, has the same magic.

And then Alari remembers something else.

Ebon made a portal, Twili markings surrounding it, and brought her parents with him. The only person in Hyrule that can make portals is her mother, because—

"He's half Twili," she blurts out suddenly. "Part Gerudo, part Twili. Only the Twili can make portals, Kylan."

"Are you saying…Ganondorf…with a Twili woman…"

"I know, it's disgusting, but…his skin is a close gray to ours, and his eyes have that Twili orange to them."

They hang suspended in silence for a full minute as Alari tries to wrap her head around this. If he's both Twili and Gerudo—skilled with magic and battle—he must be more powerful than her parents combined.

"Oh, goddesses," she whispers, horror crawling up her limbs and settling in her stomach. "Kylan, what are we going to do?"


	19. tearing everything apart

Guys I have a lot of feels today and I don't know why so this is kind of a lame chapter. Sorry for the late update.

* * *

The mark is getting darker.

The Triforce of Courage seems to burrow deeper into her skin every day, and somehow Alari knows that it can only mean one thing—she needs to fight.

She doesn't need encouragement—the rage is a song that hums in her blood every time she thinks of Ebon and what he's done, and she hacks away at the straw dummies in Talo's yard like killing them will stop Ganondorf's son. Of course it doesn't solve anything, but the anger is hot and filling to the brim, and she's afraid that if she doesn't release it on something, she'll unleash it on Kylan or Navin.

Alari finally stops after she's beheaded the last dummy, and she looks around as she sucks in cold winter air, realizing that Talo and Luda's garden is torn up and ruined.

"Well," says a voice behind her, "They're not going to be happy about that."

Her hand clenches on her sword hilt and it takes all of her strength not to whip around and cut the person in half. Instead she shoves the sword violently into its sheath, and turns around very, very slowly.

Malo, twenty-eight and an economic genius, leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at her with indifferent green eyes.

He grew up to be quite handsome, according to Midna and Ilia.

Malo quirks an eyebrow at her, waiting for a response but not really caring what the response is. Alari lets out a breath and finds herself smiling. "Tell them I'm sorry, all right?"

He runs a hand through his cropped brown hair and shrugs in a way that might mean yes, and moves out of the way so she can make her escape.

She crosses the path to the inn and wraps her fingers around the doorknob, only to find herself frozen in place, staring at her hand as it rests on the cold metal.

A faint light blooms from underneath her skin. The mark glows warmly, filling her with something she can't identify—longing, or loneliness, or desire, and there is a final truth to it.

Alari can't stay here. The Triforce of Courage has chosen her, just like how it chose her father years ago, but he hadn't hidden himself away in Kakariko. He had risen up against Ganondorf, and now she must rise up against Ebon.

Navin needs her, but the world needs her even more.

She yanks open the inn's door, pushing down the second thoughts that spring up right away, and all but sprints up to the second floor.

Luda is there, smoothing herb poultice onto Navin's wound. He's sitting up, face clenched, and without his shirt on Alari can see his every muscle is held rigid. Then Luda presses too hard, or hits a sensitive spot, and he flinches as an agonized groan gets past his gritted teeth.

His eyes meet hers over Luda's shoulders, and she presses her lips together and looks away. How can she make herself leave when he is so alone?

Luda looks at Alari, then at Navin, then finishes tying the bandage around his shoulder and exits quietly. Navin releases his breath in an exhausted sigh and puts his face in his one hand, his sweat-dampened hair tangled and unkempt.

Pain is making him old.

"Nav," she says softly. "Nav. I can't stay here. I have to find my parents and your mother. I have to stop Ebon. I have to fight."

He raises his head slowly and looks at her evenly, but there is fear in his dark blue eyes and he's fighting to keep his face calm.

"I can't let you do that," he says in a rough, hoarse voice. "I can't let you endanger yourself while I cower here, defenseless."

"You _need_ to stay here. You need to heal, Navin. The Triforce of Courage came to me for a reason. My place is out there, in battle. I don't want to abandon you here, alone and hurt, but you have people we can trust caring for you, and—"

"It's not me that I'm worried about, Alari," he says harshly, but his voice cracks. "What if you die against Ebon? What if you end up like me?"

"That's what courage is for, isn't it?" she asks, and watches as his eyes cloud over. He knows her too well. She is too stubborn to be deterred.

"Go," Navin chokes in a broken voice. "It's not like I can stop you."

Before she can stop herself she has both hands on his face and she's leaning in, gray skin against pale white, and pressing her lips to his. His fingers thread through her hair and she realizes both of their cheeks are wet.

"I love you," Alari whispers, and then she's gone.


	20. leaving in a rush

Quick update today but it's better than nothing right? Right. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is not mine and I'm not pretending it is.

* * *

Alari bursts into the sanctuary in a flurry of cold winter air and wind-blown hair. Kylan meets her eyes immediately from his spot around the table, and somehow from her flushed and tear-smeared cheeks he knows—it's time to leave. A silent message passes between them and he stands up, his chair scraping the stone floor.

"Where are you going, honey?"

He swings around to meet several concerned gazes—Telma's, Renado's, and Talo's, assembled around the table and looking from Kylan to Alari, Kylan to Alari.

"The Triforce wants me to fight," Alari says breathlessly. "If I stay here one moment longer I'm going to go crazy."

"And my place is with my sister," Kylan finds himself saying. "If she's going, I'm going too."

"But there's still so much planning to do," Talo protests. "We may have found the Gerudo fortress, but we don't know if you can even get there safely."

"And there's no way I'm allowing two kids to go off on their own," Telma agrees.

"How old was my father when he was chosen by the Triforce?" Alari snaps back, her fire blazing to life in a way Kylan hasn't seen in weeks. "He was seventeen. And you all still depended on him, didn't you? There isn't _time_ for planning. I'm not sitting around any longer. We need to act, and we need to act now."

Kylan looks from his sister to the adults, her broken rage reflected in their stunned faces. "What Alari _means_—"

"Kylan," she interrupts, and there is a lifetime worth of sadness in her voice. "Are you coming or not?"

Telma shakes her head at him, telling him _no, no, don't go, this is insanity—_

"I'm coming," he replies, because his parents are gone and Zelda is gone and everyone from Ordon is gone, and besides a crippled and suffering Crown Prince, Kylan is the only one Alari has. They are nothing if not siblings, and if he is the only person left who can watch her back as she plunges into the fire, then he won't let her down.

He accepts the fur cloak she hands him—of course she's always prepared—and slips out into the cold wind, finding Wing and another horse waiting for them. Kylan mounts the smaller one, a white mare who snorts at him irritably, and looks back for his sister.

Alari is paused in front of the door, one hand on the frame, one on the knob, her back turned towards him.

"Take care of Navin," she says, and slams the door shut as if there are demons after her.


	21. sand dunes and deep regrets

Quick chapter for now. I will try to write more tonight or tomorrow. I'm trying to move the story along a bit because I feel it's been kind of slow lately.

I always felt like there was more to Twilight Princess's Gerudo Desert than what Link could access in-game. Just imagine that there's land beyond the Mirror Chamber, but no one besides the Gerudo ever knew that it was more than just desert.

* * *

The wind is hot and persistent, tearing at Alari's clothes and what little skin she has exposed. Kylan stumbles on next to her, his boots making impressions in the sand dunes. The desert surrounds them—nothing but rolling golden dunes as far as the eye can see. Any signs of life disappeared hours ago as they left Arbiter's Grounds far behind. Now not even the annoying sand-worms leap out to attack them, here in the deepest part of the desert, where the wind rages endlessly.

"I'm starting to think this wasn't a very good idea," Kylan says, having to shout over the wind.

"I knew it wasn't a good idea from the start," she yells back, flashing a smile at him. "Follow the flags, right? That's what you said the Zora scouts found out from the Gerudo's camp. Well, we've found the flags, and we're following them. What could go wrong?"

"Plenty of things could go wrong." Of course she knows that already, but she's going after Ebon and nothing is going to stop her. The Triforce lends her courage, and it flows through her veins like liquid gold. No, not even the gods can stop her now. She has the Triforce and her mage-brother at her side, and she has enough rage to keep her going.

"—or we could get captured by Bublins, or buried in sand, or the Gerudo could shoot us before we even _reach_ the fortress—"

"Kylan!" she says sharply. "Stop listing all of our death possibilities and have some hope, all right? I'm coming up with a plan as we speak."

"How are we even going to get in? Maybe we could let them capture us and then break out of whatever they throw us in."

Alari thinks about it, then shakes her head. "It might work, but they would take my sword, and we don't know if they'd even throw us in jail or just kill us right away. No, we need to be stealthy."

Navin would have a plan already, if he could be here. Her fingers curl into her hands, nails biting into the rough leather of her gloves. Nav would use whatever he had available and combine his magic with his sword, and he would succeed. She thinks of the last thing he said to her, his throat tight and his voice rasping.

Alari presses her lips together and remembers the way he tasted, familiar and warm and right, the salt of both of their tears breaking them apart. She will kill Ebon for him, her torn up soldier-prince-boy, and with him behind her she can do anything.

Even save the world.


	22. fortresses and shadows

TOMORROW I SWEAR ON THE GOOD LORD'S NAME I WILL WRITE SOMETHING OF ACTUAL SUBSTANCE AND DO SOMETHING WITH THIS FANFIC. I SWEAR.

* * *

The Gerudo fortress is really quite clever, Kylan has to admit. It blends in with the desert so well that he can barely make it out, even silhouetted against the starry sky. The moon looms above it, clouds drifting across the crescent curve. The wind has died down some, sobering to a more gentle breeze that runs cool fingers through his hair.

"Are you ready?" Alari asks, offering him the last of their water. "Here. We'll find more inside. I hope."

He drinks deeply, letting the cool liquid slide down his throat. "All right. I'm ready."

Kylan stands and inhales deeply, shutting his eyes and taking Alari's hand. He remembers when Midna taught him invisibility—that had been two years ago, and his mother had stood behind him, ankle-deep in Ordon's spring, her fingers cool on his shoulders.

_"Invisibility is not so much disappearing as it is disguising yourself. Instead of being flesh and bones, think of yourself as air and spring water and lilies. You're not Kylan anymore. You're the spring, and no one can see you."_

When Kylan turns to look at his sister, she isn't there anymore. But he can feel her hand in his, warm and reassuring. "Kylan," she breathes, wonder in her voice. "You're amazing."

"I know," he agrees, and he doesn't need to see her to know she's rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's go."

They approach the fortress's gate, the wind blowing away their footprints in the sand. Two guards pace along the edge, their spears thudding into the sandstone. Kylan feels along the wall, wedging his hand into one of the various indents scattered up and down the stone.

"I think we can climb it," Alari whispers, and he nods.

"Keep hold of my hand," he tells her. "If you let go, the invisibility won't work."

They start to climb, using the indents as leverage and hoisting themselves up to the top of the gate. The guard walks right by them, gazing out at the desert night, looking directly through them.

The fortress stretches out before them, candlelight streaming out from windows. Gerudo women dot the rooftops and walkways alike, patrolling for invaders like them. But they can't capture what they can't see.

Kylan's eyes fall on a building that has double the security compared to the rest of the fortress. Looking closer, he can see bars over the windows, and guards are posted at each exit. _Prison_, he thinks. His mother and father. The rest of Ordon. Zelda.

They have to get in that building.

He tugs at Alari's arm, and they awkwardly descend the ladder while still keeping touch. Kylan leads Alari to the prison, and they stand on tiptoe to look in one of the windows.

The room inside is a tiny, filthy cell, containing nothing but a bucket. In the center of the floor, a small woman lies facing away from Alari and Kylan, dirty blond hair falling limply over her ragged clothing. She shifts slightly, but enough to let them see her face.

It's Ilia.


	23. the reality of it all

The prison reeks of death—metallic blood and cold stone, the air murky and too close for comfort. Kylan's fingernails are digging into her hand, but she barely notices. Alari is too focused on the prisoners. These are people she _knows_, has lived beside for her whole life, people who have done nothing wrong. But still they are locked up, bruised and dirty and alone. They pass by Uli, who loves to braid Alari's hair and makes the best pumpkin casserole in Ordon. Her ribs poke through her dirty prison garb. They see Zelda, slumped in a corner, blue eyes dull and regal beauty gone. Everyone is here—Sera and Hanch, Pergie and Jaggle, Mayor Bo, Fado, Colin—

Worst of all is Lily, Ilia's six year old daughter, whose worst crime is probably stealing from the cookie jar. She is curled up into a quivering ball on the floor, a baby animal with no mother.

And then they reach the far wall, where two cells face each other, and—

Alari reaches through empty space and claps her hand over Kylan's mouth before he can make a sound and alert the guards. He lets out a tiny sob, and she pulls him into her arms, even though she can't see him.

In the cell to her left, a woman is chained against the wall, arms fastened to the wall above her head. Her head lolls forward, unconscious, and her orange hair hangs over limply, covering her face, but from the gray and black of her skin they know. It's Midna. Her arms and legs are exposed, and they can see the bruises and gashes and burns marring her beauty.

In the other cell is the Hero Chosen by the Gods, his head still raised and his body still tensed. His shirt is in shreds, revealing where several of his ribs are jutting out at sick angles. An ugly yellow-black bruise covers the whole left side of Link's face, but his eyes are still gleaming blue above it, fixed directly on the spot where Kylan and Alari are standing.

She realizes he can sense them. Link still has traces of wolf sense lingering from the months he spent transformed, and his hearing is incredible.

"Who's there?" he says hoarsely, his voice cracking. He sounds a thousand years old.

Before she can stop herself Alari has her hands wrapped around the bars of her father's prison cell, the metal ice cold against her skin. Kylan doesn't protest, and all at once she can see him again as he joins her in front of the bars.

"Is that—" Link squints against the gloom that cloaks the entire cell. "No, no, it couldn't be. You're dead. Stop playing with my mind."

Alari's breath hitches, catching in her throat at his words. "Father, it's us. Alari and Kylan. It's us."

"They told me you were dead," he whispers, and there is a world of pain in his voice. Link has plunged into fiery mines and haunted desert prisons, fought dragons and giant spiders, saved two very special princesses and killed two very evil men. He's saved everyone hundreds of times over, and he does not deserve _this_.

"We came to get you out," Kylan is saying. "We came to kill Ebon."

"Safe," Link murmurs. "You're safe." She hears the tear fall from his cheek and splash onto the stone.

"Kylan," Alari says. "Get everyone out of here. I'm finding Ebon."

"_What?!_" he demands, shaking his head furiously. "Are you insane? You need me for the invisibility, and you must have lost it if you think I'm letting you fight him alone. He's going to have guards. He'll probably have that girl Evaline. You'd be dead in two seconds."

"I know what I'm doing." She rests a hand on his shoulder and plants a kiss on his forehead. "You have to protect the villagers. They need you, Kylan. They won't get out of here otherwise."

Ignoring his protests, she gets one last look at her family—her father, still stubbornly strong after all of this, her mother, beautiful and gentle even in sleep, her little brother, innocent and pure in the darkness of this awful place.

Alari drinks it all in, and then melts into the shadows.


	24. breakable

wow I am so so so cheesy it's not even funny

* * *

Alari hangs onto the windowsill, knuckles white and feet braced against the sandstone bricks, almost literally eavesdropping. Light spills out of the room, but she clings to the darkness underneath the window so that no guards can see her. She tries to push her family out of her mind and stop worrying—which, of course, doesn't work. She reminds herself that between the three people who saved the world twenty years ago, they should be able to come up with a plan, but the invisibility spell is far from perfect. One slip up, and all the ex-prisoners could be dead…

_Be like Father_, Alari tells herself. _Be like Navin._

She jolts as a door slams open inside the fortress's highest tower. Two pairs of footsteps enter the room that she hangs below, the voices carrying enough that she can make out what they're saying.

"—cannot believe that they haven't given up any information," one voice growls, and chills snake their way up Alari's spine. She would know that voice anywhere. The memory flashes by in her mind—black-orange eyes boring into hers, his fingers gripping her chin like a vice. Ebon.

"My lord, is it possible we don't need the children after all?" This one is not as familiar, but she can guess who the soft tone belongs to. Ebon's right hand, the girl who Alari fought at Ordon's spring, the one who ambushed Kylan.

"Of course we need the children!" Ebon barks savagely, and Alari inhales sharply. She doesn't need to wonder who the _children_ are. "I let the Triforce slip out of my grasp, after I was so close. To fulfill my father's dream…yes, we need the children."

There is hesitation in Evaline's voice before she speaks. "The hero and the queen and the Twilight Princess…I don't believe they know the whereabouts of their children. Even if they do, they are strong. Perhaps stronger than anyone else. I don't know if they will ever succumb to torture."

She can hear the sneer in his voice as he speaks. "There is only so much pain the body can take before it cracks." Her breath feels cold in her throat as she tries to draw air into her lungs. What have they been doing to her parents?

"My lord," Evaline says softly, so quietly that Alari has to strain to hear. "Ebon. As your most loyal subject, and your closest friend, I have always served you without questioning your order. But I am afraid, for you and for those kids and for all of Hyrule."

Ebon laughs, bitter and sharp in his throat, and somehow it sounds almost sad. "So you're siding with them now? I have big shoes to fill, Evaline."

"But you don't have to fill them, don't you see?" her voice is cracking. "You can be your own man, not consume yourself with becoming your father. I would never betray you."

"You still let the boy go, didn't you?"

They hang in heavy silence for a full minute. Alari's fingers are beginning to ache from holding half of her weight. She has to act, and soon.

"Everything I've ever done, I've done for you," Evaline finally says brokenly, and Alari suddenly feels a wave of sympathy for her. She quashes it quickly, reminding herself that this is the enemy. But the line between good and evil is not always so clear. "That boy has done nothing. He wouldn't hold up like his parents, not against what we've done. Neither would the girl. Or the prince."

Any sympathy she had a moment ago dissipates into the night air and hot rage rushes up to replace it. Without stopping to think, she vaults through the open window, landing in a solid stance and drawing her sword with a metallic _shing_. The hilt feels good in her hand, solid and heavy and right.

Evaline stands behind Ebon, her hand on his shoulder, honey-colored eyes wide and does not look surprised at all, and a feral smile spreads across his face.

"Well," he drawls, stepping away from Evaline and towards Alari. "I suppose you decided to come to me. Makes my job much easier."

Her eyes dart from Evaline to Ebon, trying to figure out which one will attack first. She isn't even sure Evaline will attack her—the girl has her lips pressed together uncertainly, one hand resting on her dagger hilt, but she looks more conflicted than threatening.

Alari thinks of her mother, who she has never gotten along with as well as her father, but Midna still bandages her cuts and braids her hair. And of her father, who is afraid of nothing and taught her everything she knows. And of her little brother, eleven and innocent and better than she will ever be.

Most of all, she thinks of Navin, of all the feelings she has locked away and the pain in his eyes and his lips hot against hers.

"You destroyed my home." Her voice comes from somewhere deep in her chest, and it sounds steady and strong, much stronger than she feels. "You tortured my parents. You tried to capture me and my brother. You hurt my prince. Yes, I came to you, but I didn't come to give in. I came to stop you and all you represent. I came to kill you."

The chuckle emerges from Ebon's throat, harsh and dark and barely laughter at all. "How…noble of you, little girl. Unfortunately, I have the blood of both the superior races, and you only have one. Besides, your Twili blood must be corrupted by the Hylian scum you descend from."

"If Hylians are so inferior, how did my father kill yours?"

His eyes go wide and angry and in response he lashes out with an arm, and a wave of black fire shoots towards Alari. She leaps to the side, landing in a crouch and rolling away from the knife that buries itself in the carpet next to her head. She lurches to her feet, expecting another attack, but when she looks up Evaline is standing between her and the enemy.

"I won't let you kill her," Evaline says, making no threat except with her glaring golden eyes. "Look at her. She's just a kid. _Think_, Ebon. Are you doing this because you wish to, or because your father would have wished you to?"

"What I want is the Triforce," Ebon growls savagely, the orange rings around his eyes almost glowing. "It's the same thing my father wanted, and she stole it from me. Now move. I don't want to have to make you."

"I won't," Evaline says forcefully, and Alari stands there with her mouth hanging open, disbelieving all of this. Just a month and a half ago this girl tried to kill her, and now she's defending her. "She doesn't deserve to die."

"Neither do you. Please, Evaline. I don't want to do this."

Evaline raises her head, hair shifting and turned blood red by the candlelight. She has already given her answer.

Alari flinches as Ebon draws his sword, a wicked night-black curved blade, and from behind she sees the point thrust through Evaline's middle, blood spreading through her already-red uniform. And then the metal is yanked out and she falls, hitting the floor with a sickening thud and letting out one final breath.

The blood pools around the body, the stain spreading through the carpet and coming to a stop at Alari's feet.


	25. veterans

As soon as they get outside the gates, Kylan lets out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Under the shadow of a tall sand dune, he surveys their group, counting to make sure no one got left behind. Most of them sink to the ground as soon as they are safe, exhausted and half-starved.

His father half-leans on his shoulders, barely able to walk on his own due to his broken ribs. Link lowers himself onto the sand and pats the ground beside him, giving Kylan a weak half-smile. Kylan opens his mouth, then closes it and sits next to his father.

"Don't worry, kid. I've had worse. There was this time—"

"You were _tortured_," Kylan says, disbelieving.

Link shrugs, then winces. "I've also fought a giant evil plant, and a huge fossil, and the Lord of Shadow. Trust me. I've had worse."

"Midna," Kylan hears, and turns around to see Zelda facing his mother, her hair tangled and her skin even paler than normal. She fares no better than Kylan's parents, sporting a huge lump on her forehead and other injuries on her arms and legs. "Here, let me heal you," she says to his mother, and she sounds much older than he remembers.

"Take care of yourself first, Princess," she replies hoarsely, even though she has a hand pressed to a gash on her arm, trying to staunch the flow of blood.

Zelda offers a crooked grin that has always seemed like an inside joke between these two princess-queens that shared a soul, if only for a moment. "Always the selfless one, aren't you?"

Midna lets out a breath, and relents.

"I have to get back in there," Kylan tells his father. "Alari needs help."

Link chuckles and clasps his son's shoulder. "You're not going alone."

"You're in no shape to—"

"I'll be fine, once your mother fixes me up. Besides, I can't let my son and daughter fight while I stay back here, can I? That wouldn't be right for the Triforce bearer." His steady expression falters when he remembers he doesn't _have_ the Triforce anymore. "Ex-bearer, I suppose. It's all the same."

"It isn't all the same, but that's never stopped you," Midna says from above them, and kneels down next to Link. She and Zelda have healed each other, and she looks much better—still tired and still sad, but at least she's no longer bleeding. "Kylan, dearest, we've been fighting for years. We'll be all right."

She leans forward and folds Kylan into his arms, and he lets her warmth envelop him. He has not realized how much he missed them until now.

"You don't need to worry about us, Kylan. All right?" He nods against her shoulder and she lets go and moves over to her husband. Kylan watches as Midna and Zelda heal his father, hands glowing and eyes closed. He stands and gazes out at the fortress, looming above them in the sky.

"Someone will need to stay here and guard the others," he says, looking back at the rest of Ordon's inhabitants. Most of them are not fighters, because the river village is nothing but peaceful, but he can pick out several who can defend themselves on the slight chance that they are detected. Colin followed in Link's footsteps and became a knight, and Fado, Jaggle and even Mayor Bo can probably join him if needed.

Kylan faces his parents and Zelda. "We're going to need to get back in, but we need a plan."

The three greatest heroes of his time exchange glances, and smile.

"Oh, we can come up with a plan."


	26. mission failure

Kylan watches as the guard posted on the wall falls as if struck by a fist from above, but is caught before she hits the ground. The bow in her hand disappears into invisible hands, as do the quiver and dagger hanging at her hip.

"She'll wake up tomorrow morning with a headache," comes his father's whisper, as if he has to prove it to himself. Link hates killing people, has hated it since he plunged the Master Sword in to Ganondorf's chest all those years ago.

"Let's go," says Zelda. "This bow will serve me nicely." They climb down the wall one last time, landing in the packed sand and surveying the area. Link takes out another guard as she walks by, grabbing her bow and spear before dragging her unconscious body into the shadows, where it will be harder to see. The rest of the guards are still crawling over the fortress, blocking all the entrances and patrolling carefully.

"Zelda, do you think those arrows can hit a guard's helmet, knock them out without doing permanent damage?" Midna asks.

"I think if I enhance them with my power, they can," she replies almost mischievously.

"Let's split into pairs," Link suggests in a hushed voice. "Me and Midna, Kylan and Zelda. One bow user, one magic user. We'll divide the guards and take them out, without killing them."

Kylan lets go of his mother's hand and slides up next to Zelda, making sure they are touching before they separate from his parents. He hears the rustle of cloth as she pulls the bow from her back, and the sound of the string stretching as she draws the arrow. Kylan follows the arrow as it streaks across the distance, an extra burst of speed boosting it just before it smashes into the back of the guard's helmet. She topples over on the rooftop, and when he looks around no one else has noticed.

"Impressive," he says to Zelda, and she laughs quietly.

Out of nowhere, something crashes into him, knocking both him and Zelda over at once. Kylan reaches for her desperately, because she can't stay invisible without being connected to him, but it is too late. The young guard stands above them, quivering, her mouth open in shock. Her hand goes to the war horn attached to her belt, her eyes not leaving Zelda's, and she brings the horn to her lips. The sound rolls over the buildings, and others take up the call, alerting the entire compound.

And then all at once, the fortress erupts into chaos.


	27. teamwork

Quickie for now. We're getting close to the end you guys!

The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

* * *

The horns blare loudly outside, but Ebon's eyes never leave hers. Knuckles white around her sword, she glares back, eyes bright and brave just like that day he attacked Ordon. Alari's thoughts go to Kylan and her parents, briefly, but flash back to the task at hand. She has done nothing but dodge Ebon's attacks this entire time, but not anymore. Time to go offensive.

She throws her weight forward, sidestepping the dagger he idly throws at her, his face a mask of almost boredom. She gets close enough, and slashes her sword—

His blood spatters onto Alari's face and arms, hot and sticky against her skin. A chuckle emerges deep from his chest, and before there's time to react Ebon grabs her arm with a rough hand and yanks her up.

Alari screams as fire erupts in her shoulder and she feels the joint pop, pain snaking its way down her arm. She struggles as Ebon pins her to his chest, but whimpers escape through her lips. Her shoulder is dislocated, she guesses, from Ebon's strength. Her sword clatters to the floor as she loses feeling in her hand and her fingers go numb.

This is not good.

She wriggles and twists, trying to get away, but Ebon's arms are like a vice around her middle. His breath is hot on her neck, and she feels the hairs raise where it touches.

"You were a disappointing fight, little girl," he whispers, his voice thick and dark molasses in her ears. "I thought the Triforce's chosen would have a little more fight in her."

"And I thought even you had some sense of mercy," Alari replies, ice in her voice. "But I guess not, since you killed the girl who loved you."

And then the door crashes down with a blast of shadow-orange magic, and her little brother stands there, breathing hard, magic gloving his hands and Twili sparks playing through his hair.

Alari just has time to say his name before the whip forms out of thin air, churning darkness outlined in red-pink, and wraps around Ebon, pulling him away from her. She falls to the floor with a cry, landing on her bad shoulder. She pushes herself up anyway, grabbing her sword with her right hand instead of her left. Her father taught her to be just as strong in both hands, and a dislocated shoulder is not enough to deter the wielder of the Triforce of Courage.

Kylan has a dome of magic surrounding him, and from inside he weaves spells, fast and flowing like a river. He's much better than Alari even realized, but it still looks like Ebon is winning. Kylan's shield cracks with every blast, and even as he throws energy sphere after energy sphere and sends flames rocketing towards the enemy, they have no effect at all. Ebon just stands there, letting the hits come and acting like they're nothing.

The sound of battle rages outside, and Alari can guess that it's her parents, keeping back the waves of Gerudo women. They are fighting for her and Kylan, and the only thing she can do is fight along with them.

She launches herself toward Ebon, picking up speed the more she runs. The movement sends jolts of pain up her shoulder, but she grits her teeth and pushes past it. Something streaks by her head and wraps around her sword, covering it in black shadow-magic, and she almost smiles a little. Kylan is looking out for her, as always.

Ebon detects her just before she slams into him, meeting her sword with his, the metallic _clang_ reverberating through the room. An insane grin is smeared across his face, eyes alight with battle fury. Alari sidesteps his swing and meets his blade with one of her own.

Twili pink floats down around her in a cloud, offering extra protection. She sees a wire-like tendril sprout underneath her opponent's feet, tripping him and giving her an opening.

Alari plunges forward, and shoves her sword into Ebon's chest.


	28. reclaiming what's lost

I have reached a conflict. I have fallen completely in love with all of these characters and I don't ever want to stop writing for them. But this isn't going to be an endless story; it has to end. What to do? Suggestions?

* * *

"Did you forget, little girl?"

The words come from deep inside Ebon's chest, and Kylan sees his sister's eyes go wide.

"You can't kill me."

Ebon leaps away and Alari loses her grip on the sword, stumbling and almost falling over. Ebon lands right in front of Kylan, unsheathing a knife. Kylan throws out a desperate energy wave, shoving away and thrusting up his shadow shield just before the knife comes streaking towards him. Kylan catches it, not with his own hand but with an arm of pink-red magic, and sends it hurtling back to the opponent.

Alari bursts into his field of vision, armed with nothing but the dagger she carries in her belt. Still, she slashes at Ebon angrily, yelling in an almost savage manner. Kylan settles his magic around Alari's shoulders like a cloak, protecting her, at least for now. Ebon blocks her swings easily with his own sword, but she is much quicker than him and her strikes are driving him back.

Kylan is about to move, to help Alari, when something outside the window catches his eye. A beacon of light is moving through the fortress, past where the Gerudo are swarmed around his parents and Zelda, tiny dots fighting back-to-back. A group of the Gerudo follow the pillar of light, but a swoop of arrows and pink-red fire takes them out. The light is coming closer, and closer, and it does not take long for Kylan to realize what it is.

It's the only way they can hope to defeat Ebon, and he just needs to allow it enough time to get here.

Kylan takes in a breath and sends out his energy arms, twisting them through the space towards Ebon, all while maintaining both his and Alari's shields. One magic-arm slaps against Ebon's left wrist, tiny shadow-fingers clinging to his skin, latching the other end to the wall. The other arm follows suit with Ebon's right wrist and then Kylan is dragging him to the wall, dragging him, dragging him until he is finally close enough. Tendrils lace around his legs and chest, pinning him to the wall, and he is left squirming and shouting for release.

"He looks just like a fly caught in a spider's web," Kylan jokes morbidly, and his sister gives him a strange look.

"You know there is no point," Ebon snarls, thrashing against the bonds, and Kylan can already feel his magic weakening. "You're just a half-fledgling Twili. This net will not hold me for long. And besides, you can't kill me, not with your silly little metal sword." He chuckles at the blade in his chest. "The only weapon that can kill me was lost along with my father."

"That's where you're wrong," Kylan says with a hint of triumph in his voice. Alari squints at him confusedly, but she doesn't know what he knows. He can hear the running footsteps now, coming closer and closer. The tendrils pinning Ebon to the wall begin to stretch out. They won't last much longer.

"Everyone has to die eventually," Alari says, posture straight except for her left shoulder, which is sagging somewhat.

Ebon grins, flashing white teeth against gray-green skin. "Not me." Kylan's pink-red energy bonds snap at the same time a one-armed figure appears in the doorway, silhouetted in the light that streams from his hand. He holds a sword in his one hand, but it is not just any sword.

"Nav?" Alari breathes, blinking in disbelief. "Nav, what…what are you—" she stops and almost drops her dagger when her hand starts to glow, the Triforce of Courage shining up golden rays that bring out her silver eyes. Ebon smiles a sharp, metallic smile as the Triforce of Power lights up along with Wisdom and Courage.

"Alari, catch!" Navin yells, and he hurtles the sword through the air and lands in Alari's grip, the purple hilt and golden jewel standing out against her dark gloves. She stares at the sword in shock, then raises her head to look first at Navin, and then at Ebon.

The smile drips from Ebon's face just like the blood that drips down his torso. "You little _peasants_," he spits, his face contorting in rage. "You don't know when to give up, do you?"

"No," Alari says, and points the Master Sword at him. "We don't."


	29. blood and finality

The black flames leap up around her, licking and crackling like real fire, but not actually burning anything. Ebon has the fire surrounding the two of them in a ring, blocking off Kylan and Navin. He is finally taking her seriously.

"Just the two of us, Ebon?" Alari mocks, the corners of her mouth curving up into a feral grin. "What's wrong? Scared of the Master Sword?"

Black eyes lock onto her, and the old Alari might have felt a shiver of fear. But the Triforce of Courage glows golden light and the Master Sword hums in her grip as if alive, and Navin is here. She can do anything, even fight this insane Twili-Gerudo with a dislocated shoulder.

Ebon slashes his sword diagonally in her direction, and a sick greenish colored bolt flies towards Alari. This is not Twili magic, she can tell that as it goes whistling past her. It must be inherited from his father, and enhanced by the Triforce of Power. She moves towards Ebon, dodging green magic slices all the way, wishing desperately for a shield to block all of these attacks.

He sweeps his arm in a wide arc and a wall of magic comes hurtling at her, both Twili and something even worse, as tall as her and several feet wider. Tiny darts shoot out of it, and Alari manages to cut through a few of them with her sword, but not before one finds her forearm, and another a spot just below her ribs. She hisses at the stinging pain and falters for just a moment—just a moment too long.

The wall of Ebon's magic is almost upon her, and she just barely has time to lunge out of the way before it slams into her. Still, the edge of the wall catches the side of her thigh, slicing off a good bit of skin along with it. Alari shrieks and crashes to the ground as blood starts to flow from the wound. She tries to stand, but a wave of pain forces her back down, whimpering like a baby animal.

"You think I'm afraid of the Master Sword?" Ebon chuckles, and she hears his footsteps as he advances towards her. She can hear Kylan and Navin yelling for her to get up, but their voices seem very far away. "I have to admit, you lasted longer than I expected. But I'm not afraid of the Master Sword. You should be afraid of _me_."

Suddenly, a memory surfaces in the back of Alari's mind. She is eight years old and her father has beaten her once again in a sparring match. She twisted her ankle on the way down, and it hurts, and she doesn't think she can stand anymore.

Link, the Hero Chosen by the Gods, stands over her with a slight smile on his face, blond hair golden in the summer sunlight. He extends his hand toward her.

_"Get up, little wolf. The battle isn't lost until you give in."_

Alari surges up to meet Ebon's sword with a powerful swing, knocking him off balance. She can see surprise in his orange-ringed eyes as her blade clangs against his a second time, and she sidesteps his slash, delivering a strong kick to his right leg. The Master Sword vibrates in her hand, almost like it's cheering her on. Ebon's leg buckles, and she finally has an opening, even if it's a risky one. With all the strength she has left, she slashes her sword horizontally, clanging it against Ebon's so forcefully that the blade flies from his grip.

And then she plunges the Master Sword into Ebon's stomach.

His blood spills onto her hand, hot and sticky as she yanks the sword out with a sickening wet sound. Ebon staggers back, his eyes locked on hers in shock, the life draining out of him. The black flames surrounding them begin to die, fading into the night air as he falls, head hitting the floor with a dull thud.

Alari's chest heaves, her lungs struggling to pull in enough air. The Master Sword clatters to the ground as her fingers lose their grip. She cannot stop staring at Ebon, blood-covered and limp. She is covered in blood too, both his and hers. There are no glorious final words, no vows of vengeance for the future. He dies quietly, snuffed out like a lone candle on a dark night.

Navin catches her just as her legs give out, and his one arm is tight around her back. She finds herself cradled against his body, his anxious face appearing above her, blue eyes searching her silver ones for something—what exactly she can't tell.

"You idiot," she mumbles, and almost-smile gracing her lips. "You're supposed to be on bed rest."

And then exhaustion rises up to meet her, and pulls her eyes shut.


	30. the calm after the storm

"I'm all drained of magic," Midna says wearily, her shoulders sagging as she wraps a piece of cloth around Alari's leg wound. "I can't heal her. I don't think Zelda's any better off."

"She'll be all right, love," Link says, pulling his wife close and kissing the top of her head. "They aren't fatal wounds. As long as we get them cleaned and back to Hyrule within the next hour or so, Renado can fix her up just fine."

Kylan's family is gathered outside the tower where Alari fought Ebon, under the light of the rising sun. It feels like the first sunrise after months of darkness. Although circumstances could be much better, they haven't all been together since the night before Ordon burned, and Kylan can't help but feel relieved.

He stands and walks to the edge of the building's roof, breathing in as the warm wind tugs at his clothes. It's over. It's all over.

Kylan doesn't need to turn around to know that the approaching footsteps belong to his father. He would know that long, loping gait anywhere. A callused hand places itself on his head and ruffles his hair, just like always. "I'm proud of you, Kylan," Link says. "You did well, helping your sister out like that. I only wish I could've kept you safe for a little longer."

"What do you mean? It's hardly your fault that Ganondorf had a son who decided to follow in his father's footsteps."

Link takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "What I mean is I once held the world on my shoulders. I guess I still do. It's not a burden I would wish on anyone. I was only seventeen at the time it all started, and it…it changed me forever. It changed all of the other Links forever. The only thing that kept me sane was your mother." A faraway smile drifts across his face, and then disappears. "I didn't want you and Alari to go through the same thing that I did. You're eleven, Kylan. Eleven and already saved the world. I never wanted you to experience that kind of responsibility."

Kylan stands there gaping because he thinks that's the most he's ever heard his father talk. "I—we—we'll be all right, Father. Anyway, it wasn't nearly as bad as what you had to do. There weren't even any monsters, and there was no creepy chicken race, _and_ there was no Water Temple."

His father chuckles deep in his chest. "Look, here come the others."

Zelda and Navin, followed by the rest of Ordon, file in through the fortress's gate, out of the raging sandstorm. Some of the villagers start entering buildings, checking for any lingering Gerudo. The rest settle at various posts around the fortress, making sure the passed Gerudo out Gerudo don't try to escape. Zelda and Navin walk up the path towards Kylan and his parents. Nav joins Midna on the ground, looking pale and worn out—his arm wound isn't completely healed yet, and Kylan can see from the stiffness in his movements that he's in pain. Zelda puts a hand on his shoulder, a sad expression on her face.

"Zel," Link says, and the queen looks up. "What are we going to do with the Gerudo?"

Zelda rakes back tangles of light brown hair and gazes out at the fortress of unconscious Gerudo, the sunrise reflected in her eyes. "I don't know," she says, and then, "it's not their fault, it's Ebon's. But even with him dead, we don't know if we can trust them."

"That girl down in the dungeons," Midna says. "The one who tried to stop Ebon from torturing us. She seemed so smart, so collected…that one has a lot of potential. She's young, but she's kind and experienced. Along with a few restrictions, she would make a good leader."

"She's dead," Kylan says, and he is surprised to feel a stab of something like grief. "I don't know who killed her, but she was dead by the time I got to the tower to help Alari."

"There is a way that can change," Zelda says, and all heads turn to look at her.

"You're going to bring back the dead?" Link says doubtfully.

"The Light Spirits give and take life where it is necessary," Zelda continues. "I may not have the Triforce of Wisdom anymore, but I am still a full-blooded member of the royal family. If I can convince the Light Spirits that bringing this girl back will maintain peace in Hyrule, they might grant her another chance."

Link and Midna trade glances and then look back at Zelda, some kind of unspoken message passing between them. Midna stands in a rustle of black silk. "Kylan, I'm going to help you make a portal back to Hyrule Castle. I'm drained out, but together we should have enough magic left. You and Nav get Alari back there."

"What about you?" Kylan asks.

"We'll join you as soon as we clean things up here," Link replies. "After all, two kingdom talking diplomatically can take a while, and your sister needs medical attention."

"But—" Navin protests.

"And get some rest as soon as Alari is taken care of," Zelda interrupts, gently but with the firm voice of Hyrule's queen. "You are still wounded, Navin. This isn't the time to push yourself too far."

Nav sighs and gives in. Kylan joins hands with his mother, and feels some of his power trickle through his fingers to hers with a gentle tugging sensation. Midna stretches her other hand out and closes her eyes. Below their feet, squares of the ground drop away until a Twili Portal appears in their place, green lines swirling at the center like a whirlpool.

Kylan watches as his parents and Zelda enter the tower, a place of shadows and death, and can't help but be glad that he's staying here, under the light.

"Come on, Kylan," Navin says. "Let's go home."


	31. rebuilding

Alari wakes up to fire-crackles and birdsong and the feeling of soft sheets against her skin.

It doesn't seem right at first and she shoots up in bed with an intake of breath. Her eyes sweep around the room and she realizes where she is. This is one of Hyrule Castle's many guest bedrooms, one she has long since claimed as her own, considering how much time she spends here. Sunlight spills in from the window, highlighting the dust that drifts down to the floor. A pair of leggings and a tunic are folded on the table next to her bed, and Alari pulls the shirt on gratefully.

She starts to slip the leggings on, but something stops her. A broad white scar trails down the outside of her right thigh, marking where Ebon's magic wall sliced her skin. Her mother must have healed it magically along with her other wounds, but when she runs a hand along its length, the skin is rough and knotted underneath her palm.

Alari stares at the scar for what feels like a very long time, lips pressed together and fists clenched tight. Something dark like guilt crawls up her limbs and settles in her stomach. She killed a man. She saved Hyrule, yes, but she took a life, impaled someone at the end of her blade and watched his lifeblood drain out. She might as well add Evaline, too, because she knows that that girl wouldn't have died without her being there.

A single tear rolls down her cheek and lands on the Triforce that marks the back of her hand.

"You did the right thing, you know," says a voice from the doorway, and Alari squeaks and pulls the leggings over her only _under_clothed hips.

"Ever heard of knocking?" she demands, swiping at the track left by the tear and facing her mother, a blush spreading furiously across her cheeks. "I was _changing_."

Midna half smiles and slips inside the room, closing the door behind her quietly. She is in a dress of black silk accented with red that matches her eyes, her Twili cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Alari is suddenly overwhelmed by the sight of her, glowing and healthy and still the same after all of this time.

Well, she supposes it hasn't been that long, but so much has happened in the past month and a half that it feels like centuries have passed. Cool arms wrap around her and she is enveloped in her mother's familiar aroma, something she can only describe as a Twili scent that has never faded from Midna's skin.

"You did the right thing," her mother repeats, one hand holding her tightly, the other stroking her hair. "My brave little girl. You did the right thing."

"Mama—" Alari protests weakly, but she doesn't mean it and they both know it. The next thing she knows she is crying, quiet sobs shaking her shoulders, and the image of Ebon's blood-covered body flashes through her mind over and over. She knows she shouldn't feel guilty; she knows she avenged Navin's arm and saved her parents and prevented further catastrophe. But that doesn't make it feel right.

"What most people don't understand about killing is that it hurts you too," Midna says gently. "It's not glorious or triumphant. Taking a life—" she stops, struggling to find the right words. "—it eats away at you. You wonder what you could have done differently, no matter how evil the person you killed was. Your father and I still have nightmares. What you have to remember is that we do this so that no one else has to, because we keep the World of Light safe for them—Ilia, Talo and Luda, Telma, Zelda—everyone you care about. It's for them. Remember that."

Alari sniffles and pulls away, nodding, and takes a seat on the bed, pulling her legs up to her chest. There is silence for a moment while she pulls herself together. "Maybe it's better if I ask him myself, but—Nav. Why did he show up all of a sudden at the fortress? Why did he bring me the Master Sword?"

Midna waves a hand and sits down next to her. "You know those Harkinians, always communing with the Light Spirits and being sent messages from the gods." She winks at Alari mischievously. "The Twili don't have gods. I've never really understood it myself when Zelda drones on about these things. But the Light Spirits sure did come in handy that day. They brought Evaline back to life, after all."

Alari gapes at her mother, mouth opening and closing before she chokes out the words. "I watched Evaline die!"

"Zel has a connection with the Light Spirits through the royal line, remember? When she is in need of help—and that help benefits all of Hyrule—they'll obey her commands."

"Couldn't they have helped us two months ago and prevented all of this?"

Midna shakes her head with a shrug. "Spirits don't work like that, Alari. They're big into destiny and things like that. They believe that everything happens for a reason." She springs up and crosses to the vanity, seizing a hairbrush and brandishing it like a threatening weapon. "Now, young lady, it's time we got you ready."

"Ready?" Alari repeats. "For what?"

"For the ball tonight," Midna shoots over her shoulder as she sweeps to the closet, flinging the door open and looking through fabrics inside, the wire hangers creaking along the . "A celebration to honor the new alliance between the Gerudo and the Hylians."

"Alliance? _Ball?_" Alari flops down onto the bed. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Midna grins wickedly. "Evaline apologized for her race's mistakes, which as far as the public knows came from a common bandit group that has been eliminated. Prince Navin led an expedition into the desert—which your father and I sent you and Kylan on for 'adventure experience'—and ran into a huge Bublin gang. They overtook you, and Prince Navin lost his arm. But the Gerudo saved you, and now an alliance has been made between the desert and Hyrule."

Alari stares at her mother for a long minute, stunned, and sits up very slowly. "We're lying to them?"

Midna sighs and nods. "Learning of how close they came to a disaster could terrify people, and they would never trust the Gerudo again. Not that we trust them fully, not even close, but by establishing an alliance we can keep a close eye on them. The few that know—the villagers, Telma, Renado, Ashei, Ralis and Beth—they have been sworn to secrecy, and they are all people we can trust. Blaming it on the Bublins is easy. I don't think they're going to protest."

"So—so I have to pretend like all of this never happened? Like Ordon didn't burn down? Like you and Father weren't captured? Like Nav didn't get his arm amputated and I didn't kill a man?"

"Only around people who don't know the truth," Midna says sympathetically, and the creaking of the wire hangers stops. "Hmm. This should do nicely."

"Do I _really_ have to—"

"Yes, you really have to go to the ball. You're one of the heroes that discovered the Gerudo, after all."

Alari makes a face. She hates balls. She hates dresses and heels and she's built for fighting, not for dancing. But there's no stopping her mother once she has an idea in her head.

"Is Nav all right?" she asks quietly. His wound was far from healed when she left Kakariko. Traveling all that way couldn't have been easy on him.

Midna smiles knowingly and shakes the chosen dress out. "Yes, your little boyfriend is fine. I'm sure he can't wait to see you."

Alari flushes bright red. "He's not my—"

Her mother tosses her the dress. "Oh, he is, and we all know it. Now get changed."


	32. silk gowns and candlelight

The throne room sparkles with setting sunlight and candles, floors shined to perfection and colorful ribbons decorating the columns and windows. The banquet table is set up to the side, and various tantalizing dishes are spread out all over it. Couples twirl around the dance floor along to the string quartet, the ladies' dresses swirling around in rustles of silk and lace and velvet.

Kylan groans inwardly and fidgets in his fancy clothes.

He hates balls. Too crowded. Too social.

He scans the crowd and finds a diverse blend of people. The Zoras, looking like they'd rather be in the water, are scattered around, some examining the "land people" food suspiciously. Kylan spots Beth in a green gown, her hand on Ralis' shoulder as they waltz across the room to the music. Most of Ordon is here, and Luda and Talo are among the dancers, along with Telma and Renado seated at the dining table. Even a few of the Goron leaders dot the crowd, dancing completely off-tune and very nearly crushing the Hylians by accident.

Most surprisingly, there are Gerudo in dresses of dark red and desert gold, clustered together in uncomfortable groups. Kylan feels a wave of sympathy for them, immersed in an unfamiliar culture that they had once been ordered to wipe out.

Zelda is perched on the throne in a regal manner, violet silk skirts spread about her. A bored-looking Ashei leans to one side of the red-and-gold chair, the guard captain on the other. Kylan notices that security is much tighter than usual—guards line the entire room and survey the ball with spears gripped in their hands. Zelda is giving a warning. The Gerudo are not fully trusted.

"Son of Link and Midna," says a soft voice behind him, and he turns around to see Evaline glittering in the candlelight. He almost doesn't recognize her at first, with her ruby red ball gown and her hair up in some kind of braided style.

"They all said you were alive, but I wasn't certain," she says, looking him over with honey eyes as if reassuring herself. "It is…good to see that you are safe."

"I do have a name, you know," he bursts out, then clamps his mouth shut, and then opens it again. He offers her his hand. "Kylan."

Evaline looks at his hand for a moment, and then shakes it. Her skin is cool and calloused and tan overtop his light gray skin. "I heard what you did," Kylan says. "You saved my sister's life. I…I mean…thank you."

She gives him an odd little smile, but it slips away and her face clouds over. He notices the dark circles under her eyes and the sag in her shoulders. Evaline did love Ebon, after all. Kylan may only be eleven and he may not understand much about love, but Evaline loved Ebon. He knows that much.

"I wish it could have gone better," she admits quietly. "I wish Ebon…" She leaves the sentence hanging, but they both know what she was going to say.

_I wish Ebon could have lived._

"Would you like to go try some Hylian food?" he blurts, because she looks like she's about to cry and he has no idea how to handle that kind of situation. "We have all kinds. Everything pumpkin-themed from my village's crops, and meat from Kakariko, and the gourmet stuff the castle chef makes, and some fish from the Zora River…we don't have any Goron food, though…I don't think our teeth could handle that…"

Kylan stops when he realizes she's smiling at him, a slow, warm smile, and she reaches a hand out and ruffles his shaggy orange hair.

"I think I'd like that."

* * *

Just to be crystal clear they aren't in love or anything because ew (Kylan is 11 and I've decided Evaline is 16) that is an unbreachable age gap. This is more just Kylan helping her get over her grief, and them becoming friends. One more chapter to go.


	33. the end of winter

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess belongs to Nintendo. OCs belong to me.

* * *

Alari gives the duke's son a sugary sweet smile and carefully removes her hand from his grasp, resisting the urge to yank it away and shove her way through the crowd, out of the ballroom and into the fresh night air. The boy gives her a clueless grin and bows respectfully as she slips away, praying that no one else asks for the next dance.

She's danced with practically half the men in the room, from noble family's heirs to soldier's sons. Her popularity from "delving into the desert and battling hordes of Bublin" has brought her newfound admirers—not to mention that marrying the daughter of the Hero and the Twilight Princess would bring political advantage.

Her father stepped in to rescue her occasionally, and even Kylan danced with her a few times, even though he's so much shorter than her that they don't make a very good pair. But there is only one person that she actually _wants_ to dance with—one person who she hasn't seen this entire night.

Alari navigates through the ball guests, probably stepping on a few feet, but she needs to get out of this room or she's going to start screaming. She bursts outside, sucking in grateful breaths of fresh air, ignoring the sideways glances the guards give her. The skirts of her light blue gown tangle around her legs, and the silver bracelets on her wrists jingle as she all but careens down the stairs, stopping halfway down to pull off her slippers.

Continuing barefoot, Alari hikes up her dress, wishing she could yank the whole thing off bodice and all and put on something more comfortable. Her feet take off on their own and the next thing she knows she's sprinting through the castle like an insane person, not knowing or caring where she'll end up.

When her lungs finally run out of air she finds herself standing still on a balcony, the wind howling through the castle. She reaches up and undoes the complicated hairstyle her mother did, pulling out pins and braids until finally the blond mass tumbles down around her shoulders. Hyrule spreads out beneath her—the torches of Castle Town far below, the ribbon of blue that is Zora's River, Death Mountain glowing on the horizon, Faron Woods blanketing the south. Alari sets her shoes down and places her hands on the cold stone, somewhat calmed down now.

A little box attached to the edge of the balcony catches her eye. It's filled with soil, but winter has withered all the flowers planted inside—all but one, a daisy that has just opened up. And then she's thinking of Nav and that day eight years ago when he picked a daisy from the garden and handed it to her with a little boy grin.

"I figured you'd leave your own party," says a voice behind her, and Alari very nearly jumps out of her skin. Of course. He always has had perfect timing.

"It's all fake, anyway," she replies without turning around, and she _feels_ rather than sees him join her at the balcony. "The expedition story is fake. The smiles I give my dance partners are fake."

"It doesn't all have to be fake," Navin says hopefully, and she turns to face him. Her eyes land squarely on one spot, at the place where his shoulder should connect to his arm.

"How's the wound?" she asks, unable to meet his eyes.

"Come on, Alari," he says gently, tipping her chin up with his index finger until she's lost in crystal blue eyes. "I've been dealing with other people's pity all night. I don't want to hear it from you, too."

The next thing she knows she's throwing her arms around him, pressing her face in the fabric of his shirt, and his skin isn't burning with fever. "Don't you ever worry me like that again," Alari whispers fiercely in his ear.

"Same goes for you," Nav says thickly. He pulls away, but only just enough to be able to look at her. "When you left Kakariko, you never gave me a chance to reply."

And then he's kissing her, warm and gentle and forgiving, and neither of them break it until their lungs are ready to burst. "I love you, Alari," Navin mumbles against her cheek.

"Love you too," she murmurs back, and together they look out across Hyrule, their land, their people, their home. Her eyes catch on that single daisy again, blooming despite the cold.

Spring is coming, and Alari smiles.

It's about time.

* * *

And that's the end :')

OR...should I say the TEMPORARY end?!

I'm not going to keep going with the storyline, but I've decided to maybe do some one-shots, unrelated to each other, that will be added on to this story. But don't expect constant updates; just whenever I feel like revisiting these characters I'll do some short one-shots because I REALLY like Alari and Kylan and Nav.

Thanks so much for everyone who has reviewed! Couldn't have finished it without you!


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